Essex County Protesters Steamed About Military Budget, ‘Trump Threats’

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A coalition of anti-war groups in North Jersey will host a rally this weekend against what they are calling “hostile threats” from the Trump Administration, as well as the $700 billion military budget recently approved by the U.S. Senate.

The Essex County rally will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the MLK statue at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 13th Avenue in Newark.

Organizers include NJ Peace Action, NJ Anti-War Agenda, Green Party of New Jersey and the Green Party of Essex County.

Rally leaders said that they are protesting against the “hostile threats of the Trump Administration made at the United Nations, as well as the financing of those threats through Tuesday's $700 billion war budget vote.”

• See related article: Senate Backs Massive Increase In Military Spending
• See related article: President Trump At UN: We May Have To 'Totally Destroy' North Korea

Event leaders noted that U.S. Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, voted in favor of the massive war budget.

“The world and this country can’t afford another war,” Madelyn Hoffman of NJ Peace Action said, adding that the $700 billion military budget approved by the U.S. Senate will be “funded by deep cuts to environmental protection, public transportation and public education.”

• Learn more about the rally here.

Hosting a pro-Trump rally in Essex County? Want to offer a dissenting opinion? Send a letter to the editor or op-ed to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Please include your full name and town of residence.

Photo: US Army