No Kings Rally On Newtown Border To Protest "Illegal War" With Venezuela

NEWTOWN-MIDDLETOWN, PA - A No Kings Rally will take place on Friday, Jan. 9, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in front of One Summit Square (the office of U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick) at Route 413 and Route 332 on the Newtown border with Middletown.

Organizers said they will be protesting President Trump’s "illegal war in Venezuela" and expressing opposition to the administration's attempts at regime change without authorization from Congress and without citing evidence of a legitimate threat to the United States. They will also be encouraging the Congressman to assert the Constitutional war powers of the Congress.

“The Constitution is clear about what branch of government has the power to declare war, and it isn’t the executive branch,” said Karen Rodriguez, co-leader of Indivisible Bucks County. “We are going to head up to Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office to express opposition to the President putting American lives at risk in defiance of the Constitution.”

“Invading another nation, killing their citizens, and stealing away foreign nationals is an act of war. Congressman Fitzpatrick toeing the Republican line and calling Venezuela’s actions ‘narco-terrorism’ doesn’t excuse this act of aggression,” said Laura Rose, co-leader of Indivisible Bucks County. “I want to know how Brian Fitzpatrick feels about his Constitutional prerogatives being usurped, and I know that many members of this community feel the same way.”

The Administration has said the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, calling the apprehension of former Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro a law enforcement action that did not require congressional approval.

"There’s not a war," said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "We don’t have U.S. forces on the ground in Venezuela ... In the Biden Administration, they had a $25 million reward for [Maduro’s] capture — so we have a reward for his capture, but we’re not going to enforce it? That’s the difference between President Trump and everybody else ... President Trump did something about it."

Rubio also said the action taken by the administration to bring Maduro to the United States to stand trial for his crimes "was not an action that required congressional approval. In fact, it couldn’t require congressional approval because this was not an invasion. This is not an extended military operation … We will seek congressional approval for actions that require congressional approval. Otherwise, they’ll get congressional notification."