Hundreds of people rallied in Lewiston on Saturday in support of the state's Somali community, a response to President Donald Trump's recent comments that Somali immigrants are "garbage" that he doesn't want in the country.
Most attendees were not Somali, but say they turned out to show their solidarity. The event also drew a long roster of elected officials and candidates.
The rally was organized by Safiya Khalid, a former Lewiston city council who became the first Somali-American to hold that role when she was elected in 2019.
She addressed a crowd circled around the gazebo in Lewiston's snow-covered Kennedy Park downtown, delivering her response to Trump's attacks.
"We are here today to say something clearly and without apology, we are not going anywhere," she said, to cheers.
Khalid drew a historical comparison between today's anti-Somali rhetoric, and past waves of xenophobia and discrimination against Irish and French-Canadian immigrants in Maine.
"Every generation has seen a community scapegoated, blamed and dehumanized in moments of fear and political convenience," Khalid said. "And history has never been kind to those who stayed silent or looked away while that harm unfolded."
The crowd followed Khalid on a short march through the park, and recongregated in a nearby event center in a former church.
On stage, South Portland state Rep. Deqa Dhalac, a Democrat and one of three Somali-Americans serving in the Legislature, said the president's attacks, and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, have sent shockwaves of fear through many immigrant families.
"But we will not shrink. We will not be intimidated. We will not let someone else's hatred define who we are," Dhalac said.
Khalid, Dhalac, and other Somali-Americans were not the only public figures to defend the Somali community. The lineup of speakers included a long list of Democratic and independent elected officials and candidates, exhorting the crowd to stand up for their Somali neighbors.
"In Maine, we look after each other. It's how we live. And when one of us is attacked, when a community is targeted, that's an attack on all of us. And that's why we are here today," said state Sen. Rick Bennett, a former Republican who is currently running for governor as an independent. He says Maine can and should lead by example.
"We lead with decency and dignity. We lead with courage, and when the rest of the country is pulled toward fear and division, Maine will show a better way forward," Bennett said.
Other speakers included Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
And while the event also featured Somali food and a performance by a local Somali dance group, the city's Somali residents were notably absent from the mostly white crowd.
Amran Osman, who runs a local nonprofit focused on the mental health struggles of immigrant youth, says she believes that many in the community stayed home out of fear, amid what she said is a flood of online vitriol.
"People were afraid of, 'OK, what if somebody shoots us, or something happens?' Because just seeing all that hatred, like people are telling us, 'Go back to your country. You guys don't belong here,'" Osman said.
Osman, who is Somali-American, said she's received online death threats herself, but showed up anyway.
"I think that I owe it to the youth that I work with and my community," she said. "Because if I'm not fighting for them, who's going to?"
Wrapping up the rally, Safiya Khalid said it means a lot to her that so many non-Somalis came out in support.
"Thank you to every ally, each and every one of you who showed up today with care and intention. Your solidarity matters, and it does not go unnoticed," she said.
Trump, she says, made clear what he thinks of Somalis in the U.S. with his denigrating remarks. Organizing this rally, she said, was her way of offering a response.
"You may think that of us," Khalid said. "But let me show you what Mainers think of us."
