Protesting While Vacationing: Audio from No Dictators Rally in Kauai

Reporting from the Isle of Kawaii, I'm Rachel Ann Goodman for K-Squid Radio.

I was wondering why you're here today.

I don't like that children and parents are being ripped apart,

and I feel like we're having our democracy stepped all over.

Wait, why are you here today?

They promised me a beer.

That's it, that's all I got.

So you're happier here than being on the couch?

Oh, definitely, yes.

Is there any one thing that particularly bothers you about what's happening?

I know there's a long list.

Yeah, there's a long list, the attacks on the LGBTQ community,

the attacks on democracy as a whole.

Those are huge to me.

Yeah.

How about you?

Yeah, attacks on civil rights, attacks on LGBT, attacks on the immigrants, and the war.

It's ridiculous.

What are we in this war for when our economy is going downhill?

Okay, so I'm talking to a protestor at LA LA.

Why are you here today?

I'm here because, like, some news that I saw, I made me so sad,

and the only way that I could not feel sad is to do something about it.

But it's mostly, I care about democracy, I care about human rights,

I care about empathy, treat everyone like how you want to be treated,

and so that's why I'm here for freedom.

I love America, I don't hate my country, I'm not paid to be here,

and the one thing that I want to do is to have America wake up,

and we need to vote in November and get control of the house

so we can impeach and convict Donald Trump.

Why are you here today?

Something got you out of it off the couch.

And because I can't stand the cruelty that's going around,

and the words that he's starting and the way he's treating people,

immigrants, we all immigrants, that's why.

What is your country of origin?

I'm Polish.

You have a long history of understanding these things.

Yes, yes.

I lived under the dictator's teenager, you know.

I don't want to be here.

I don't want to be here, my father fought.

First the Nazis, then the Communists, and he came here.

You know, he passed away a long time ago, but this was a free country.

This was a free democracy, and now what's happening?

People are afraid.

All right, for Caseque Radio and Santa Cruz, I'm in Kauai,

I'm Ella Ele, and I'm here with.

Hi, I'm Amanda Kaufman, I'm an artist here,

while life conservationist, so here was some good people today.

Why is wildlife connected to maybe what's going on in Trump land?

Because we have federal programs for our wildlife conservation,

and on the front lines here, I work out on the military base as well.

So it's a big deal what's going on federally, and it impacts everything.

And people don't realize that sometimes.

So species could go extinct?

They already are.

Yep.

Faster.

Yep.

Yeah, without protections, and those have been, you know, rolling back.

So it's really important, in my opinion, to get out here for the,

not just the people, but for all life on the planet.

And if we all just took care of the life that we all value,

we wouldn't be in a situation.

I'm here at the No Dictators Rally in LA, and I'm talking with.

Lynn Parker.

Lynn, why are you here?

I am here because I don't want to look back and say,

well, now that we're in fascism land, I wish I had done more.

Well, I'm basically here to help out with them.

I was just like, add more numbers.

You know, it's always nice to add on my person.

What do you think of what's happening in the world today?

Insane.

It's crazy, huh?

Insane.

You look like a young person.

What's the view from being, how old are you?

I'm 19.

There's a lot of other people.

My age, I wasn't really interested in this kind of stuff,

at least, not standing out.

They do say more things on the internet.

But, you know, you don't see a lot of me, really.

So I've seen the same thing that he has with the ice raids.

No due process.

Corruption and competence.

You name it.

It's going on.

And President keeps getting richer and richer by the day.

Very wrong on so many levels.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm here just to support everybody.

And I'm glad there's a turnout.

I'm Rachel Ann Goodman here in LA LA,

at the No Dictators rally, and I'm speaking with.

I'm Mary Lou Kelly.

And what's your role here?

I'm one of the organizers with Kauai Indivisible.

Ever since the 24 election,

we've been protesting.

And so today we're here in Kauai,

because we've had kings of Indivisible.

And we don't want to disrespect the Hawaiian culture.

We call this a No Dictators rally.

And this is our third one, October 15th, 2025.

We had 2,000 people come to our protest rally,

which was for us, No Dictators 2.

And here we are today at the first of three rallies going on

on Kauai today.

Here in LA LA, I've just been counting,

and we're about 150 people.

And there's also one going on at the same time

on the North Shore of Kauai, called Princeville.

And then the big one's going to be in Lihui,

the town center, in front of the county council historic building,

the lawn, the sidewalks, and then we'll have some food trucks

for afterwards so people get something to eat on the way home

if they want.

So what do you hope the message would be

to people maybe who are sitting on their couch not coming out?

What would you like them to know about why this is important?

This is a really important time in our country.

We have to team up together all the people who care

about our democracy and all the rights and conveniences

that that has provided to us in America.

We've been so lucky, and right now so many things are threatened.

Reporting from the island of Kauai, I'm Rachel Ann Goodman.