As New York City prepares for the second “No Kings” protest on Saturday—the nationwide demonstration against President Donald Trump and his administration for what critics say is a push toward authoritarianism—anti-fascist advocates gathered on Wednesday on the Upper West Side to promote their cause. 

The two-hour long forum, organized by Refuse Fascism, an anti-fascist coalition founded during the first Trump administration, was held at Advent Lutheran Church, located at West 93rd Street and Broadway. The event included speeches from Refuse Fascism cofounders Cornel West, a political activist and academic, and Sunsara Taylor, a member of the Revolutionary Community Party. 

“Fascism is a machine of destruction,” Taylor said. “If it is not defeated, it devours everything.” 

The “No Kings” protest will be held in Bryant Park at 2 p.m. and will proceed down Fifth Avenue to Madison Square Park. Similar to the first No Kings protest held in June, drawing over five million participants at more than 2,100 events nationwide, this demonstration is a nonviolent march. Refuse Fascism members will be meeting at 10 a.m. in front of the U.S. Army Recruiting Office in Times Square, where they will march towards the starting location.

During her speech, Taylor condemned the Trump administration’s stringent immigration enforcement policies. She described the raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept. 30 in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, where officers arrested 37 illegal immigrants, using flashbang grenades and drones. The operation took place at an apartment building known for being frequented by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, but was widely criticized for how the residents were treated by I.C.E. 

“If this happened anywhere in the world, this would be an atrocity,” Taylor said. “This happened on U.S. soil just two weeks ago.”

West agreed. 

“Our problem is that we’ve got too many folks in the middle who are lukewarm, who don’t want to become participants, who don’t want to take a risk,” said West, emphasizing the need for more political activists. “Indifference is more insidious than evil itself.”

The organization is also planning a nonviolent demonstration in Washington D.C.  at the Washington Monument on Nov. 5, to protest the one-year anniversary of Trump’s election. 

“Right now is when people need to be moved,” Taylor said. “And if we don’t move them now, it’s not going to be easier to move them later.”

Some attendees at the forum said they had experienced political oppression in other countries and were weary of the U.S. following suit. 

“My mother and I were extremely wealthy and, in the matter of a week, we had to leave Venezuela from one day to another because of political prosecution,” said Karen, an immigrant who declined to give her last name due to fear of retaliation. 

She moved to the U.S. in 1999 following the inauguration of authoritarian Hugo Chavez. 

“The thing that people don’t understand is that Chavez was never a communist,” Karen said, adding that the media often portrayed him as one. “It was a fascist dictatorship. So, this is not my first rodeo.”

In May, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller announced the Trump administration’s goal of arresting 3,000 illegal immigrants daily. Dan Ziegler, who became a Refuse Fascism member six months ago, cited Trump’s deportation initiatives as a reason for joining the organization. He mentioned Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant who was deported to El Salvador in March due to speculation that he was a gang member, despite having U.S. legal status. 

“Never in 2015 pre-Trump, I never would have imagined… this would ever be something that would happen.” Ziegler said. “Absurd, immoral stuff like that is happening on an everyday basis now.” 

He said he wants to make the same kind of impact as political activists did in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement.

“You kind of saw that with George Floyd back in the early 2020s,” said Ziegler. “You did have some major protests. They didn’t get Trump to go out of power by any stretch, but they were able to get some policing reforms passed.” 

Following the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, many states enacted reforms such as mandating body cameras on police officers, banning chokeholds, and revising use-of-force policies.

Although Refuse Fascism largely supports the mission of “No Kings,” some members argue a march is not enough.

“What makes us different is that we realize that just one-day protests alone aren’t going to be enough to achieve the goal,” Ziegler said.

The organization is calling for its members to maintain “sustained protest,” where participants demonstrate over several days — or as Ziegler hopes, months. 

“We’re calling for massive unrelenting protests converging from all over the country in D.C., the seat of power… sparking a movement that doesn’t stop until this regime is removed from power,” head organizer Rafael Kadaris told The Midtown Gazette. 

“Fascism is not a looming threat. It is upon us now,” said Taylor. “We cannot wait for failed and rigged elections.”