Coronado High School senior Sean Wilbur waved a protest sign and surveyed the sea of demonstrators in downtown San Diego on March 28, immersing himself in a “No Kings” rally, rather than just reading about civic events in a classroom.
A woman with a megaphone began leading a chant. “No justice!” she cried. And the throngs around her shouted back, “No peace!”
“The point of today is to come together as a community,” said Wilbur, one of the leads for Coronado High’s Young Dems club. “That’s what is so appealing about this to me, is we have a squad that’s coming here, but we also have groups coming from across San Diego and we’re all working together.”
Thousands gathered at Waterfront Park to exercise the right to protest against President Donald Trump’s administration and its actions.
Wilbur and two classmates were among the Coronado residents who ferried across San Diego Bay to merge with the spirited crowd.
How do you live in this country right now and not have a finger on the pulse?
Coronado resident Kisha Semenuk
Kisha Semenuk, a Coronado resident, compared the rally to a heartbeat of world events. “How do you live in this country right now and not have a finger on the pulse?” she asked.
Wilbur explained that some of the signs were made by other students who wanted to support the club or rally, but weren’t allowed to by their parents.
The Coronado News reached out to Coronado High’s Christian Conservative club for a countervailing perspective on the demonstrations, but did not hear back.
Last year was the first “No Kings” rally, in protest of Trump’s second term. The event’s name reflects demonstrators’ belief that the president is behaving like a monarch.
This year, signs raised by the students and others criticized the war with Iran, use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at airports, the Save Act that would restrict voting and other Trump administration policies or practices.
Coronado resident Donna Stachowicz joined the rally with her daughter, Jillian, who is part of the Young Dems club. Stachowicz, carrying a sign with the message, “Fight ignorance, not immigrants,” said most high schoolers don’t spend weekends doing anything school related, much less attending a protest.
But, in addition to the “No Kings” protests, Jillian and other club members are part of a group of demonstrators rallying for democracy every Friday at 7 a.m. on one of the busiest intersections on Coronado.
“I’m proud of her for making her thoughts known and being hopeful and not being afraid,” Stachowicz said as she stood next to her daughter. “I know I wasn’t as brave at her age.”
Stachowicz, a nurse and Navy veteran, said she is advocating for healthcare in the United States.
“What I have noticed is, things like immunizations, things that we’ve protected and fought for, they’re being eroded by MAHA,” Stachowicz explained.
(MAHA is the acronym for Make America Healthy Again, a movement created by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appointed by Trump.)
She also voiced opposition to the war with Iran.
“(Trump) wants to be the mightiest. He’s quick to want to send people to war. But those are decisions that impact people for generations,” Stachowicz said. “So that worries me because I’m not just a veteran. I’m a military spouse.”
Wilbur said he joined protesters because he was let down by Democrat and Republican leaders who have failed to stand up to the president.
We’re seeing it across the board, where different checks and balances are just bowing down to whatever Trump is asking for, whatever Trump is demanding.
Coronado High School senior Sean Wilbur
“We’re seeing it across the board, where different checks and balances are just bowing down to whatever Trump is asking for, whatever Trump is demanding,” Wilbur said. “I’m really disappointed.”
He said the recent deployment of ICE agents to airports during the government shutdown – in support of overwhelmed TSA workers – has been particularly upsetting.
“What makes them qualified to be going into our airports to go solve the issue that is being created by a Republican led shutdown?” Wilbur asked rhetorically.
Donovan Peters, a sophomore at Coronado High School with a sign declaring, “Nobody’s free when others are oppressed,” said he joined the rally so his voice could be heard.
“It just helps add to the numbers and show that there (are) people that want to make a change,” he added. “It’s not just one person. If there’s this many people, that show’s something’s wrong and there needs to be a change.”
As the students and Coronado residents marched with the crowd, thousands of bodies followed suit, shuffling on the streets in the heart of San Diego where Coronado is just an artery, and those from Coronado protesting are one of the heart beats thumping loud in the cacophony of other pulses reverberating throughout the nation and world.
