NORFOLK, Va. — The nation has watched as people in Los Angeles protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and they've watched while President Donald Trump defends his decision to send in military forces, despite pushback from California. The issues coming up now in L.A. are of concern to some residents in Hampton Roads.
"We are a military community; let's think about that for a minute. We have active-duty military being deployed against our own citizens," said community activist Carrie Short.
She's one of a group who is frustrated with the government and the ICE raids.
"And we're also frustrated with our elected leaders, the Democratic elected leaders, who are telling us there's nothing they can do. So we're really feeling like we need to take it into our own hands and the protest movement is a part of that," said Short. "We've been pretty complacent with our democracy and we need to make a strong statement that America's not a place for kings."
"People have been waiting for so long for a sense of community and some direction on what to do and for hope," added Sharon McQueen, another community activist.
A group of Hampton Roads residents plan to gather in West Ghent’s Jeff Robertson Park this Saturday, as part of a event organized by COVA Coalition & Indivisible. At the same time, others will gather in Williamsburg and around the country — all to join the "No King's Day" movement.
"We didn't elect a king. We don't want a king. We want democratic processes," said Pete Woodhead, committee chair at the COVA Coalition. "We're going some place dark and strange and I, for one, don't want to be there. And everybody I know doesn't want us to be there."
Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) also opposes Trump’s recent actions, sharing a message Monday: "Trump is trying to escalate violence with this move."
Tuesday Kaine added, "The President’s decision to deploy thousands of Guardsmen and women to quell protests in Los Angeles—without a request by the California Governor and in fact, over the objection of the California Governor—is nearly unprecedented . . . We are in very, very dangerous territory. I think my colleagues and I are right to be concerned about this. The American public is concerned about this . . . Many Americans are worried now that if they express dissenting voices to policies and the Administration, they’re concerned that the military may be deployed against them.”
However, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin backed Trump’s actions.
"I fully support what he's done. We can't have cars being burned overnight and and people rioting in the streets, tearing down not just business infrastructure and people's personal property, but threatening federal facilities as well. And so he said during his campaign that he was not going to allow our cities to be to be destroyed. And I think this is an appropriate step. One of the things that I also am surprised by is the fact that we have such a such a violent protest reaction when what is happening is violent criminals who are illegally here are being arrested," said Youngkin.
Youngkin added that he is committed to helping ICE deport people who are here illegally.
"We need to arrest and we need to deport them, and that's what we've been doing in Virginia," said Youngkin.
In the meantime, the group in Hampton Roads wants to express their concerns and frustrations peacefully.
Pete Woodhead reiterated, "With regards to the rally this weekend, we have a crisis management plan already in place. We're not expecting to ever need it because just like our April fourth rally we're all about peaceful demonstration. We are not expecting violence of any kind. We are expecting a peaceful protest."
