No Kings Does Downtown Albany
The group was peaceful and expressive.
By Christopher Webb
The protest stretched from one end of Wolf Road to the other, encompassing the entire length on both sides. Wolf Road is the main whopping district in Albany and consists of three major malls, nearly every restaurant chain and over a dozen strip malls. The police presence was minimal. Their primary role was to direct pedestrians at cross walks. A few bike cops were patrolling the route. Everyone was well behaved and the protest was peaceful. I stayed there for the duration. from 1-3 p.m.
The crowd dispersed immediately at the end. Several of the officers present expressed support for the protest when I asked them for their opinion. Others did not. All of them were thankful for the overtime pay and said the expense of policing the event would be billed to the taxpayer. Priests, nuns and Tibetan monks attended, along with quite a few veterans. The crowd skewed over 50 with many retirees. Some expressed frustration that they felt the need to protest again after feeling they had accomplished so much in the ‘60s-’70s and thought we were going backwards as a country.
Traffic was backed up on the street but continued to flow, with protesters obstructing their passage. Protesters also drove along the road with signs and honked on their horns in a rhythm. Three counter-protesters drove down the road in vehicles with Trump signs and were booed. Obvious undercover cops in attendance took video as did several news crews.
I overheard a conversation between a few SUNY Albany students who felt the protest would not achieve any change and that things would ultimately get much worse before they got better. Two students in that group said they had purchased rifles recently out of fear, should the "shit hit the fan". They also said they were encouraging friends to do the same. Several pro-Palestine groups also joined the demonstration. Quite a few people brought their young children with them.
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Absolutely revolting