DELHI - The chants rolled down Main Street and spilled across the courthouse lawn Saturday morning, Oct. 18, where organizers of a “No Kings” rally said upward of 750 people gathered to protest creeping authoritarianism and to demand, as one speaker put it, “a future where no one is left behind.”
The Delhi event was one of thousands held nationwide on Oct. 18 under the banner of the 50501 Movement - short for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.” - a decentralized coalition that says it upholds nonviolence and constitutional rule of law, and seeks to counter “executive overreach.”
Major outlets reported large turnouts at “No Kings” actions across the country on Saturday, a reprise of mass demonstrations this year aimed at rejecting any one-man claim on power.
“They fought fascism because they were anti-fascist. That’s all.” said Judith Maguire, a co-facilitator for the Delhi rally, opening with a family-history appeal.
“Antifa is not a group but an ideology, an ideology that rejects hate and refuses to scapegoat others. Who else here has family who fought to stop the spread of fear, injustice?” She cast the crowd as “the real patriots that are defending democracy,” adding, “Today, we say no to a power grab that ignores the most basic tenets of our Constitution… We say no to tyranny from a wannabe King. We tell Congress: take back the powers that belong to you.”
From the gazebo, speakers braided national grievances with local calls to action. Lillian DeMauro, a Delaware County resident since 1970 and a longtime health-care advocate, urged neighbors to attend a free town-hall on health care at SUNY Delhi.
“We’re fighting to stop these cruel cuts, but we’re also fighting for something better - a universal Medicare-for-All style system. It puts everyone in, no one out, and treats health care as a human right, not a commodity,” she said, describing the New York Health Act as covering “medical, dental, vision, hearing, mental health and long-term care” for residents and workers statewide. “If we want a health-care system that serves people instead of profits, we have to demand it from those we elect, or we’ll find somebody else who will.”
Gabriel Shapiro pressed the crowd to hold would-be standard-bearers to clear lines. “We must stick together to make sure no one gets left behind as we fight authoritarianism,” she began, contending that “the Democratic Party is at a crossroads” and warning against candidates who “compromise on our values” - especially on transgender rights. “Any candidate that does not unequivocally stand with trans people will not get our votes and should not get yours,” she said. She criticized talk of settling early on favored contenders and broadened her platform: dignifying people with disabilities, ending homelessness (“a policy decision”), confronting gun violence in schools, and supporting “a united Free Palestine, because a ceasefire isn’t enough.” The refrain she led - “a future where no one is left behind” - echoed back from the crowd.
Later, Rich Stein, an architect, designer and retired editor who helped run the Pulitzer Prize-winning Riverdale Press, traced the rally’s legal and civic DNA to the 45 words of the First Amendment. “Without those 45 words, we would be hard pressed to participate in today’s ‘No Kings’ event,” he said, recalling a 1989 arson attack on his paper over its defense of Salman Rushdie. He warned of “new and ominous coordinated threats” to free expression and pressed for a counter-movement expansive enough to match the moment - “a different narrative, a different set of values” - borrowing the challenge, he said, from a conservative columnist who nonetheless urged mass democratic organizing.
Following speeches, the Raging Grannies - “women of a certain age,” as one member put it - belted out tart, home-written verses from the gazebo. “We are committed to peace, social justice and the environment. You don’t need to be able to sing or to be an actual Granny, [to join us]” one announced with a grin, inviting recruits. Another offered a benediction for the day’s tone: “Please, please, please don’t be afraid. There are more of us than there are of them. Be fierce, but don’t be afraid.”
The rally unfolded under a soft police presence. Two uniformed Delhi police officers observed the two-hour event, Chief Mike Mills said, noting that “tempers have been hot” in recent months and that officers “want everyone to be safe.” He added that police have been present at previous gatherings as well.
Organizers said the day wasn’t only about protest signs; it was also about staples and soup cans. Attendees donated $632 and multiple bags of food - enough to fill half the bed of a pickup truck - for a local pantry.
A movement with many doors
The 50501 Movement describes itself as grassroots and volunteer-run, with events organized locally and values centered on nonviolence, respect and constitutional guardrails. State-level affiliates adopt similar mission statements - “defend our rights, liberties and democracy,” as one chapter puts it - while national hubs distribute organizing guides, safety tips and maps of actions. Saturday’s “No Kings” theme, used in several nationwide days of action this year, has become the movement’s shorthand for rejecting autocracy.
If the courthouse rally showed anything, Maguire suggested, it was that politics here remains a contact sport - with room for hymns, history lessons and grocery bags.
