MONMOUTH COUNTY – Every Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to sundown, a coalition of local activist groups converges on the front lawn of Republican Congressman Chris Smith’s office in Middletown to protest and air their grievances.
This group, which includes members from local activist groups such as Indivisible, Middletown Outrage into Action, and Jersey Shore National Organization For Women, is not just a group populated by people who identify as liberals or Democrats; many at the rally identified themselves as traditional Republicans who have issues with the current administration.
The group shows up with the purpose of raising awareness about their many different concerns caused by the Trump administration. According to their post on mobilize.us, a popular site for finding local protests, their concerns include, but are not limited to, Immigration Customs Enforcement’s detention of immigrants without due process, ICE’s escalation of violence in Minneapolis, the cuts to Medicaid, USAID, SNAP, and other essential federal programs, the tax cuts to billionaires, the illegal invasion of both Iran and Venezuela, and Trump’s threats to other countries as well. On top of that, there were plenty of signs at the protest demanding the full release of the Epstein files and for Congressman Smith to stand up and oppose the will of Trump.
Jersey Shore Online.com has made numerous efforts to reach the Republican representative on his position concerning Trump’s policies, commentary and actions and calls from his constituents that he host a town hall meeting this year, something that has not occurred in 20 years. While contact has been made with his staff members, no response has yet been received.
“Me being an immigrant, I wasn’t born in this country. My children are firstborn. I take it personally, you know. I think immigrants make America great,” said Isabel Newson, a Portuguese immigrant who showed up to the rally holding an “Abolish ICE” sign.
Newson, who lived in Portugal under a fascist regime, claims she has started to see many familiar comparisons between that government and the US government over the past couple of years.
“I started seeing the parallels years ago, the Tea Party getting stronger and stronger in the government, Steven Smith embodying himself in the government. And he’s a big fascist… I can see it, it’s plain as day, the white supremacy, you know, the white power groups that are growing in numbers and nothing is being done about.”
One of the main reasons why they chose to protest in front of Congressman Smith’s office, despite the widespread belief that Smith never actually uses that office, is that they are against Smith’s supposed willingness to go along with whatever the president says or proposes.
According to Theresa Blackburn, one of the main organizers of the protest, the original point of the protest was to oppose the “Big Beautiful Bill” because of its cuts to social programs, which Congressman Smith supported. When that got passed, it shifted to a protest against the cuts made by the bill.
“Chris Smith is our audience, and we hope that he will have a moment of moral clarity and realize that he shouldn’t have voted for that or that he should start to stand up for his constituents and not just cave to what Trump wants to do. But our other audience is the drivers here.”
April 29 marks the one year anniversary of the rally that has been gathering in the same spot every Wednesday since April of last year. That rally will start at 4:30 p.m. outside Smith’s office, which is located at 1715 Route 35 in Middletown. Those who are interested in attending the rally are instructed not to park in the office’s parking lot, but to park in the retail lot near the Staples and walk over.
