WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — More than 4,000 protesters lined Maple and Bridge streets from Hartford Avenue to Kilton Public Library in West Lebanon on an overcast Saturday afternoon.

The event was one of thousands of “No Kings” protests that were scheduled to take place across the country on Saturday in opposition to the Trump administration and the military parade that the president planned for the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.

“The traitor in charge and his billionaire friends will not survive our spirit for democracy,” Madeleine Pluhar, a co-leader of Upper Valley Indivisible, the activist group that spearheaded the protest, said in an interview outside Hartford Town Hall.

The White River Junction event was among several other “No Kings” protests slated for Saturday in Upper Valley towns, including in Enfield, Hanover, New London, Orford and Woodstock.

Like many of the protests that have transpired in the Upper Valley since Trump’s inauguration in January, protesters in White River Junction had a lengthy list of grievances with the current administration.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing Trump in the newspaper and TV everyday,” Lebanon resident Dan Moriarty said.

Having served in the military for over 25 years, Moriarty said he had “never seen such politicization of military defense.” At age 76, the White River Junction event was his first protest.

“(It’s) overwhelming, the number of things going wrong in our country,” said Etna resident Jennifer Rickards, who attended the protest with her 22-year-old daughter, Ellie Roberts.

Rickards said she joined the protest to “send a message that’s visible” and show the administration that “we’re not all on board with this.”

Standing on her right, at the corner of Dana and Main streets, Roberts helped Lebanon resident Julie Püttgen carry a green banner made from a tablecloth bearing the words “Resistance is fertile” in yellow lettering. According to Roberts, the two met “like 20 minutes ago.”

A therapist and first-generation immigrant from Switzerland, Püttgen said she was concerned about the raids that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has been conducting across the country as well as proposed cuts to Medicaid.

“Affordable health care is something I really believe in,” she said.

Bonnie Arnold, 70, of Wilder, said she attended the protest to “stand up for the people.”

She and her wife, Susan Boles, 69, dressed in red cloaks and white bonnets in reference to “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the television series based on Margaret Atwood’s novel about a futuristic totalitarian regime in which truth is forcibly obscured by the powers that be.

“I feel it’s the right costume for today,” said Boles, who added that she’s worried about the future of Social Security, veterans’ benefits and women’s rights, among other issues.

“The sign doesn’t have (enough) room,” gesturing to the one she carried, which read “Stop Breeding Corruption.”

For much of the 90-minute event, which started off at noon and began to die down around 1:30, the streets were loud with the din of honking horns and cheering protesters.

The event was “the culmination of so many efforts,” Pluhar said, including the help of activist groups such as Upper Valley Coalition, UV Rise UP!, Three Rivers Indivisible, and UV Visibility Brigade.

More than 15 volunteers helped at the event, with the support of Hartford and Lebanon police who were “here to protect us” in case “violence were to erupt,” Pluhar said.

The protest remained peaceful throughout the afternoon.

“There’s a lot of smiles,” said Pluhar, who described the event as “very peace loving.”

Marion Umpleby can be reached at mumpleby@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.