Hundreds Rally in Riverhead, Joining Nationwide No Kings Protest Movement

John McAuliff told the crowd gathered at Riverhead's State Supreme Court plaza on Griffing Avenue that the movement wasn't finished. "This is number three," he said. "There will be a number four."

Several hundred people turned out Saturday for the "No Kings 3" rally in downtown Riverhead, the East End's entry in a nationwide day of protest that drew students, clergy, activists, and community organizations along a march route from Riverhead High School to Town Hall. Simultaneous rallies stretched across the region, with an estimated 450 people attending a sister event in Greenport and additional gatherings in Sag Harbor and Hampton Bays.

The Riverhead program opened with an invocation from Rev. Bohdan Hedz of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, who drew a connection between humanitarian solidarity with Ukraine and the civil liberties concerns driving the local demonstrations. Suffolk County Poet Laureate Chip Williford followed with a reading that framed protest as civic duty.

Members of OLA of Eastern Long Island were among the organizations represented as speakers addressed immigration enforcement, due process, and what they characterized as threats to democratic institutions. Local advocates have spent recent weeks pressing for municipal and state policies to protect immigrant communities on Long Island, where federal enforcement actions have intensified and due-process concerns have moved to the center of local political debate.

The Greenport gathering's 450 attendees gave it one of the larger East End turnouts of the day, with speakers there focusing specifically on immigrant rights and community safety.

With McAuliff's pledge of a fourth installment, organizers placed the No Kings series on a trajectory that runs through the 2026 midterm cycle, when immigration enforcement and civil liberties are expected to remain defining issues in contests across Suffolk County.