OCEAN COUNTY – The latest rally in protest to the Trump administration was held on two sides of Hooper Avenue, Toms River recently and drew a crowd of more than 400 people.
Attendees came out with signs, special attire and loud voices to the “Good Trouble Lives On” protest which was described as “a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people.”
There were fewer attendees at this rally than one last month in front of the Ocean County Mall.
The phrase “Good Trouble Lives On” is a rallying cry and slogan for a movement inspired by the late civil rights activist and 17-term Congressman John Lewis. The late Thursday afternoon rally was co-hosted by the Ocean County Young Dems Caucus and the Democratic Coalition of Ocean County (DCOC), and took place in front of the Veterans Association Clinic at 1055 Hooper Avenue.
It was one of 31 rallies in the state and one of two in Ocean County, the other being in Lakewood Township that evening. The rallies took place in 1,600 communities nationwide, marking the five-year anniversary of Lewis’s death.
National Organization For Women (NOW) members were out in force at the latest rally. Ocean County NOW President Lynda Fote said, “it is hot out but our turnout here today is a sign of just how really upset people are that they are willing to come out and stand here for over an hour in this and we aren’t going away. We are relentless.”
Group members were recently at Doggie Derby Day in Lacey Township, the Barnegat Pride celebration and will be at the rescheduled Toms River Pride Day on August 16 as well as at Lacey Day, Jackson Day, and the Toms River Harvest Festival.
“We go out and talk to voters about what is really important,” Fote said noting that NOW supports reproductive rights and justice, ending violence against women, LGBTQ + rights, economic and racial justice and constitutional equality.
Nancy Ellison a retired nurse practitioner from Brick is involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She said her interest with them is to support “things I believe to be right for all humans and so many of us here are involved in a variety of ways.”
“We are involved with the National Night Out event in Toms River (coming up next month) and a back-to-school day event in Manitou Park in Toms River. That is a great event for the kids and we give out loaded beautiful backpacks with everything in it that a student could need,” Ellison added.
Tara Kownacki of Lacey Township was the chief organizer for the day’s event taking to the bullhorn with the chant of “Donald Trump has got to go!” She was also pleased with the turnout. “Originally, we had hoped this to be framed around immigration policies and ICE but then the big beautiful bill passed and then it became about that and now it turns into about a great many things.”
“We had 350 people who registered and we first got here early somebody counted 250 and now our rough head count is 450,” she added toward the close of the event.
Kownacki is with the DCOC. “There are a lot of people here from the various Democratic clubs in Ocean County are here and others as well.”
Democrat Rosalee Keech who is running for election for a 9th District Assembly seat this fall came out with her husband on the hot afternoon for the event. She said she was concerned about taxpayers’ dollars being spent wisely. “We know we are going to lose funding from the federal government and I think the state will have to figure out a way to cover services.”
New issues of discontent voiced during this protest included the controversy over the Jeffrey Epstein files, a topic that has stirred up controversy even within the president’s ardent supporters on Capitol Hill.
GOP lawmakers are torn over the president’s refusal to release government records related to the deceased financier and sex offender. Those present at the rally voiced that they feel the documents should be made public.
“It is hard to keep up with this circus which is why we have these rallies,” Judy Celeste the vice president of Ocean County NOW said relating to the latest talking point in politics. “We really need to get our country back on track.” She brought a two-sided sign with different messages one of which noted Lewis’s history in fighting for civil rights.
“That’s his playbook, he deflects or blames Obama, Biden or Clinton,” another protestor said.
There did not appear to be Trump supporters holding a counter rally at the same time, like there was at previous rallies. This newspaper reached out to Ocean County GOP Chair George Gilmore and Executive Director Jennifier Bacchione, but did not receive a response by press time.
Some Republicans are joining Trump’s calls to “not waste time and energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
In 2019 Epstein was arrested on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York and he died the following month in his jail cell on August 10. His death was ruled by a medical examiner as suicide by hanging but the Department of Justice released video that revealed that at least one minute of footage was missing and the video was found to have been modified despite the FBI’s claim that it was raw.
