Thousands protest federal abuses of power in Athens

Thousands of people rallied in Athens, Georgia on Saturday for the third No Kings event, which was the largest single-day protest in US history.

Protests were held at eight separate locations across town, with a central "Democracy fair" at Bishop Park.

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TRANSCRIPT

Thousands of people rallied in Athens, Georgia on Saturday for the third No Kings event. Protests were held at eight separate locations across town. Then they came together at Bishop Park for a Democracy fair.

No Kings, no ICE, no war!

Hundreds marched through the park and then reassembled to learn how they could get more involved in the movement. Later, speakers took the stage to address the crowd.

This is a university town. Usually people just read history. Today we're here making history. Jeannette Rankin said, ‘freedom is something that dies unless it is used.’ That's what we're doing here today, using our freedom to fight against the jackbooted march of fascism here and around the world!

Every single day, our airwaves are flooded with campaign ads telling us that we need to hate people who are playing sports. They are designed to make us smaller, to make us more fearful, and to make us divided. Let me tell you who I am. I served over a decade on active duty in the United States Army, where I deployed four times in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am a recipient of not one, but two, Bronze Star medals. And those medals are not just about me. They are proof of something bigger. They are proof that barriers were broken, that women were not just present in war, that we were leading. That this country, at its best, had the courage to say, see you, we honor you, we honor your service.

But I need to tell you something. That recognition is being erased. Not just from websites, which it is, not just from history books, which it is, but from our collective memory. They are trying to make you believe that some people are less worthy of dignity than others. Don't you believe it! Don't you believe. They want you to believe that some lives matter less. That some stories don't belong. But I know something different. And my faith teaches me what you do to the least of these, you have done unto me. What you have done to the least of these, you have done to me. That is what Jesus, my Savior, said. So when you erase the marginalized, you're erasing something sacred. And I came here today to say, we will not allow it.