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One Maryland neighborhood celebrated Labor Day with a small-town parade, while several miles away, demonstrators gathered on an overpass on the Capital Beltway in Silver Spring over what they said are policies that affect laborers.
Hundreds of community members gathered at the overpass on Colesville Road in protest of President Donald Trump’s administration’s policies.
Mary Brown said the protest’s location has good visibility.
“We have visibility for folks going up and down Colesville Road. We have visibility for the Beltway,” Brown said, adding that the protest lets people know “we stand in support of immigrants and everyone ICE is rounding up.”
Silver Spring resident Laura Elkins said the demonstration during the holiday is significant.
“Because a lot of the people that are affected by his policies and stuff are the people who labor for us, labor in the fields, labor in the hotels, and they can’t be out here,” Elkins said.
Elkins stood next to a more than 10 feet tall sculpture of the president depicted with red eyes, a crown and tiny hands, sitting on top of a golden toilet.
“I want to be out here today, in part because my friend made this float, and it’s so great,” Elkins said. “It’s just a wonderful protest movement. And so, I wanted to get it out as much as possible.”
Demonstrators lined either side of the overpass, stretching as far down as Hastings Drive. Many rang cowbells and held signs reading, “No Kings, No Dictators,” “Solidarity Forever,” and “The only crown in this county is on her head,” pointing to an image of the Statue of Liberty.
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Cars honked in solidarity while driving by, often prompting cheers from the crowd.
“Every time somebody honks like the ones you hear right now, that’s somebody else who’s supporting this kind of protest, and maybe they show up next time,” David Devlin-Foltz said. “And maybe with enough of us coming out, it begins to make a difference on elected officials.”
A different kind of cheer happened several miles away at the Kensington Labor Day parade, where neighbors came out to see the festivities, the Magruder High School marching band, fire trucks driving by and scout troops handing out candy.
Jon Goldsmith brought his children with him to the small-town parade.
“It’s a beautiful day out. Just came down to enjoy the parade and be with the community,” Goldsmith said.
Adam Kurland came with his daughter. Growing up in a city, he said it’s nice to see what the community has done for this parade.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan and Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
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