Massive peaceful rally along the causeway to Ocean City
OCEAN CITY — “I am in such fear for our democracy,” said Sonya Bertini of Margate, a former longtime resident of Ocean City and an Ocean City High School graduate.
“For the first time in my 66 years, I’m terrified of what is happening, what’s unfolding after I saw what happened in California,” Bertini said, referring to President Donald Trump overstepping the governor of California and calling in the National Guard and Marines because of protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles.
The longtime bilingual education teacher was among a crowd of protesters who lined the Route 52 causeway walkway from its base in Ocean City to just beyond the Welcome Center on Saturday afternoon.
“It just breaks my heart and I think we all have to step up, all of us, no matter our party, because this is going against our country. And that’s what I worry about,” she added. “It’s destructive. It’s just terrible what he (Trump) is doing. And I taught immigrant children my whole life, and they’re beautiful children. They don’t deserve this.”
Richard Tolson, Bertini’s husband and fellow OCHS graduate, encapsulated his reason for attending the rally into one word: “Democracy.”
“I’ve been protesting my whole life as a labor leader. Social justice is just in my blood from my father when he was president of the Democratic Club in Ocean City in the ’60s, so I learned it at the kitchen table,” Tolson said. “And it’s worth fighting for, this country.
“It doesn’t belong to any one group of people or any socioeconomic group of people. It belongs to all of us, so I will fight to defend that till my dying day.”
Indivisible OCNJ organized the rally and had almost 500 people signed up, but saw those numbers swell. There were already that many people lining the causeway around 11:30 a.m. Saturday before the official start of the rally, which was scheduled from noon to 2 p.m.
The national Indivisible movement organized rallies across the country, reportedly drawing more than a million people through local chapters. Rallies included Cape May Court House, Atlantic City and Philadelphia.
“You’ve already got a ton of people out here,” Lou Stricoff said shortly after 11:30 a.m. He is one of the organizers of Indivisible OCNJ.
“We’re going to stretch from the base in Ocean City side, all the way up to the Welcone Center. That’s my dream,” he said.
That dream was realized.
“We had to do something. This is our first action in Ocean City. I see a lot of my neighbors here. And this is a great thing,” he said.
“We just want to support our Constitution and our liberties in this country and try to stop the oligarchy and the authoritative administration from taking things away from us,” Stricoff explained. “It’s a big-picture protest. There’s a lot of small items in there, like LGBTQ rights, but this is just part of it. There’s a bigger picture going on here and now’s the time to do it.
“If we’re not going to do it now, what can I say to my grandchildren? It’s a thousand percent nonviolent, non-property damage protest,” Stricoff said. “We are not just Democrats. We want independents. We want Republicans to join our movement because we’re all Americans. The other side, the MAGA side, does not own the American flag.
“We own the American flag, and we’re all in this together, and we all have to come together to oppose the administration,” he said.
“Oh, it’s so important,” said Janet Yunghans, president of the Upper Township Democratic Club.
“We really have to send a message loud and clear that we care about our democracy, we care about freedom, and the people will rise up to make sure that we preserve our freedom and our rights,” she said. “It’s just a wonderful turnout. It just really makes you feel wonderful to know that this many people care about our democracy and our Constitution.”
The protesters who lined the causeway were waving American flags and carrying signs and placards.
Philip Winger of Selinsgrove, Pa. and Ocean City, had a sign that said “Democracy dies in silence.”
He came “to protest the attempted move to fascism that Trump and his minions are doing. We have to stand up against this. It’s tremendously encouraging to see this kind of the support.
“This is what America feels and believes, not necessarily what’s being reported on the news.”
Winger said he and his wife, whose family has owned an old cottage in Ocean City for 100 years, retired to the resort for the summer.
“We would have been participating at our local event back home, but just felt it was really, really important to be here for us and for our children,” Winger said.
His wife, Beth Winger, said she came “partly to build community, to see all these wonderful people here and to get the feelings of these people honking at us, and just to prove that there are so many people here that believe in this movement.”
On a mid-June Saturday, lines of traffic moved slowly into Ocean City along the causeway, with many drivers honking their support and waving, but some others showing their disdain.
Pamela Womble of Ocean City came to the protest “because I need to express my profound disappointment in the current administration. I think Trump is a disgrace. And there’s something about expressing myself in community that is really energizing. So that’s why I’m here.”
Joe Deitch, of Ocean City and Florida, said he believes there has “definitely” been a curtailing of free speech under the Trump Administration and was at the protest to show that people are united in speaking out.
His wife, Kathy Powell, said her grandchildren motivated her to come.
“I want them to have a happy life with freedom the same way I did up until 2016.” (That’s when Trump was elected for the first time.)
Wearing a shirt that read “Activists Never Retire,” Marian Reed, a resident of Ocean City and Philadelphia, came “to show support for people who are unrecognized and marginalized, to show support for independence and democracy that seems to be missing and to return decency to the White House.”
Reed said she taught school for 45 years and was a devoted union member.
Dolly Rudloff, 91, formerly of Somers Point, was motivated to come to her first protest rally, deciding that she needed to stand up and protest what has been going on in the country.
She held a sign comparing the actions under Trump to those under Hitler, with ICE (the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency) taking the place of the Gestapo, immigrants instead of Jews and planes instead of trains, all boiling down to the president’s “career goal” of being a dictator.
Beth Mallozzi, of Ocean City, carrying a sign saying “due process for all,” was protesting “because there’s so much injustice happening at the hands of President Trump, who’s taken no regard for due process of an arrest with ICE, and also disregarding state (rights), like in California … and then even the way he encourages folks like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. He encourages people like Russia. He says stop, but he doesn’t really mean it because of all the things that he’s done in the past that eggs them on to go right on in and do it because he wants to do the same.”
“I’m a big fan of democracy, and this is what it looks like,” said Linda, of Pennsylvania and Ocean City. “I’m tired of dictator Trump. I’m tired of his tariff threats, the small gain for great pain. It’s ridiculous. I never voted for him, I never would. He’s a maniac.”
“I am here because I want to fight for my own rights, as well as the people’s rights that can’t be here today due to fear for their families being torn apart,” said Linda’s daughter-in-law, Mandi, 28. “I want my children to grow up in a world that accepts everybody.”
Linda’s daughter, Kim, 27, was holding a two-sided sign that had quotes under the heading, “Who said it: Trump or Hitler?”
“I am here today because I fear for the future of our country under the leadership of Donald Trump,” Kim said. “He has no respect for the rights of people that are different than himself. He believes he can do whatever he wants, and that he answers to nobody, including the courts, and I’m here to fight for our democracy,” she added.
Katharine Karsten, a self-described Ocean City Democrat, was holding up a sign near the Ocean City welcome sign at the base of the causeway. It read “No Snow, No I.C.E. in Ocean City.”
She came “to represent people who are not having a voice at this point and trying to keep the fellows that work at the deli in Ocean City. I have offered them sanctuary.”
Carrie Iwanowski of Ocean City was carrying a sign that said “Keep your hands off my rights.”
She came to the rally “because something has to change and we must fight for our liberties. This is getting scary. And if we don’t do it, if people don’t spend time and take time out of their lives, nothing’s gonna change. We have to work on this as a society.”
She was thrilled with the turnout for the rally.
“I’m very happy. And being Ocean City, I’m just over the moon, because we live here full time, so this is making me very happy that we’re getting as many people.
Peaceful protest,
only one incident
The Ocean City Police Department estimated the crowd size at 800 while organizers believe it was about two and a half times that.
The police said the protesters were all peaceful.
Only one incident was reported, according to Lt. Dan Lancaster of the OCPD Detective Bureau. He said two 17-year-old juveniles were briefly detained after throwing objects from a moving vehicle toward the protesters. They were issued several motor vehicle summonses and released into the custody of their parents, Lancaster said.
– STORY and PHOTO by DAVID NAHAN/Ocean City Sentinel and Cape May Star and Wave staff
