More No Kings Rallies Hit the East End

Protesters took to the streets of the Hamptons and the North Fork a month to the day from when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, was killed in joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that sparked conflict across the Middle East. Anti-war messages were the latest addition to the No Kings protests that have largely focused on U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) mass deportations.

“Suffolk County made it clear — end ICE abuses, protect East End immigrant communities,” and reject endless war abroad,” participant Lukas Ventouras, a Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), posted on X.

The largest of the eight East End No Kings rallies began at Riverhead High School before participants marched two miles to Riverhead Town Hall, where more than a dozen speakers and musical performers took the stage. Another group marched from the Montauk Lighthouse to Hampton Bays, while others rallied at the Suffolk County Riverhead Center, Greenport Mitchell Park, Steinbeck Park in Sag Harbor, East Hampton Town Hall, in Hampton Bays and in Southampton.

The protests were among more than a dozen across Long Island and thousands nationwide that organizers said drew millions of picketers.