Marie at 1 Write Way

Scenes From a Protest, June 14, 2025

Our protest at the State Capitol started early, at 10 AM, which was a good thing. About 11:15, we heard thunder, then it started to rain. When I saw a flash of lightening, we decided it was time to go. I did manage to get a few pictures.

This is my husband and one side of the sign he made.

We saw quite a few clever signs. Here’s a couple of my favorites. I might steal from these for the next protest (because, you know, there’s likely to be more).

A protester holding an American flag with a small sign that says, “No Kings Since 1776.”

It took me awhile to figure out the puzzle of Foxtrot Delta Tango.

According to my local newspaper, thousands came out in Tallahassee to protest. We were impressed, not just with the size of the crowd, but also with the almost endless stream of cars honking to show support.

It was a peaceful protest. It was a friendly protest. Even when Trump supporters gave us the finger or flashed their MAGA gear at us, we just smiled and waved back at them.

Police were present but they seemed pretty relaxed. We did see drones flying around and what looked like law enforcement with cameras on a roof. So they have evidence that we followed the rules.

We did not interfere with traffic. We stayed in our pre-approved designated spots. We all wanted this and any future protests to be peaceful.

I do believe that peaceful protests are the best way to get one’s message across and to be heard.

Which leads me to the heartbreaking story unfolding in Minnesota, of the assassinations of a Democratic state senator and her husband and the attempted assassinations of another Democrat legislator and his wife (Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota shot).

They say the attacks were politically motivated. My heart feels so terribly heavy. I don’t want my country to be like this, where anyone has to fear being killed just because someone disagrees with their politics.

I disagree with pretty much all Republicans these days, but I believe in using words, not bullets, to register my complaints. To disagree in peaceful and productive ways is the mark of a strong person; to resort to violence and carnage is the mark of a weak person. And this murderer also impersonated a police officer to get close to his victims. So he is weak and a coward.

Exercise your First Amendment rights, but be safe out there.

Marie A Bailey

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29 responses to “Scenes From a Protest, June 14, 2025”

  2. Thank you for standing up for your fellow citizens and your country, Marie. I’m so glad to hear that the protests were peaceful. TACO is just itching for an excuse to declare martial law.

    Liked by 1 person

    • My pleasure, Liz! It does lift my heart to go to these protests and see that we are truly not alone. I do fear what TACO’s next steps might be. His federalization of the National Guard is not limited to California, and I’ve heard rumors that ICE plans to hit a few key Democrat cities like Seattle and Chicago. I worry that we might be on the precipice of another Civil War, but now we have the “distraction” of Israel’s war with Iran. I don’t think TACO anticipated that. He promised peace to his voters and now war is breaking out all over.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Wonderful! We saw a lot more seniors than we did young people (to my husband’s dismay), but we kept to a small part of the crowd so I believe there likely were more.

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  4. Thank you for sharing, Marie–and for all you do! I’m glad all went well. One of the local protests around here looked very big. We were in Philadelphia–estimated at about 100,000 people.

    I’ll have a few photos probably tomorrow.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. We weren’t able to get to our local event but we did go to the April one, where it was really affirming to see other people of like mind. I wish we could have made it to San Francisco yesterday, though. Something big. The photos of huge crowds around the country make me think a real movement is starting to gel. 🤘

    Liked by 1 person

    • I hope the momentum continues although I don’t imagine people taking to the streets every day or even every weekend. This was our third protest in Tallahassee. While I was glad I went, I was also pissed because there were so many other things I could have been doing if Mango Mussolini wasn’t in the WH.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. The best part of these protests yesterday was seeing how many people came out in red states and red cities. This is not just an issue for blue states. It crosses the country. Thanks for being a part of it.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thank you, Mark, and I so agree with you. The Orange Felon’s policies are hurting everyone everywhere. Even in Florida, people who voted for Trump are angry and scared by what he and his lackies are doing.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I wish I could’ve participated in the flesh down here near Houston, but I had to work and didn’t have enough gas in the tank til payday to risk the trip. I felt useless and frustrated because I wanted to be at those events, with folks burning with energy to say something, too. The best I could do was spread work on the Fediverse and share pics and stories as they came into my feed every chance I could during bathroom breaks on shift.

    Be well, folks, and hoping we can wrest our country back from the regressives. Be that force for good and that sanity and laws and the spirit of the laws make a comeback over some fools’ whims.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Marie – wonderful. Also I can’t help but think the weather in FL probably helped protect participants from those given the go-ahead by you-know-who to ram cars into crowds of protestors…(I hope I got that ‘news item’ wrong, correct me if necessary!!)
    hugs

    Liked by 1 person