More than 50 people marched in downtown Riverhead Friday afternoon, one of more than an estimated 3,000 “May Day Strong” protests across the country.
The “no school, no work, no shopping” day, with walkouts, marches, block parties and demonstrations, was organized in opposition to the policies of the Trump administration, from mass deportation to the war in Iran.
The Riverhead event was jointly organized by the East End Visibility Brigade and Indivisible Long Island.
Protesters gathered outside the State Supreme Court building on Griffing Avenue and marched to Riverhead Town Hall on West Second Street, where Kerry Flanagan of East End Visibility Brigade delivered a petition asking the Riverhead Town Board to pass Organización Latino Americana (OLA) of Eastern Long Island’s Public Safety and Accountability Law. Flanagan filed the petition, containing dozens of signatures in the office of the Riverhead Town Clerk, for distribution to the supervisor and town council members.
OLA’s proposed local law was drafted by retired state assembly member Fred Thiele, who is a member of OLA’s board of directors. Among other things, It would require local police to file public-record reports whey they respond to incidents involving federal immigration enforcement activity and calls for the creation of a community task force on immigration enforcement. The proposed law states that nothing in the legislation should be construed to prohibit cooperation with federal agencies in criminal investigations or prosecutions when required by law, or restrict mandatory compliance with federal or state law.
Riverhead officials have declined to discuss the proposed legislation with OLA and a majority of the five-member Town Board has stated that they would not support the law if it came to a vote.
Today, protesters rallied outside Town Hall while Flanagan filed the petition. The group, carrying signs and banners denouncing the president and his administration’s actions, then marched up and down Main Street before returning to the starting point on Griffing Avenue.
Following the march, Indivisible Long Island held a “Rock the Resistance” May Day picnic at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead.
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