John Monroe stands on the corner of River and Main streets in Saranac Lake at around 9:30 p.m. on Friday evening, part-way through his 36-hour, one-man “Vigil for the Constitution.” (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

SARANAC LAKE — At 8 a.m. Friday morning, as trucks made deliveries to downtown Saranac Lake businesses, John Monroe stood on the corner of Riverside Park holding a sign saying “Hands off the First Amendment.”

He was holding a 36-hour, one-man “Vigil for the Constitution,” protesting what he sees as a plutocratic federal government violating the rights of people guaranteed by the pocket Constitution he carried in a plastic baggie.

When the town hall clock tower bell tolled 12 times at midnight and the streets grew quiet as the bars cleared out, he was still there. When people filled the park with tents and produce for the farmer’s market Saturday morning, he was there, and he was there when they packed up to leave.

When the rain poured in thick heavy droplets Saturday afternoon, he was still there. He stayed there until sunset at 8 p.m. Saturday.

He was awake all night, weathering soaking rain, long hours and cold temperatures. But he said the discomfort was worth it to support the freedoms and rights he has enjoyed in America.

“I’ve never had to do anything to get them or to keep them. A lot of people have over the years,” Monroe said. “They’re threatened right now.”

The length of time was meant to convey the severity and urgency of what he was talking about. He wanted people who saw him to pay attention, to think and to take action.

“For an old white guy to stand on a corner with a sign, things have got to be pretty bad, right?” Monroe said with a chuckle.

Monroe is an ultramarathon runner. He has a slim build, a soft voice and steady eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses.

“I’ve been up all night before, running and hiking in the woods,” he said. “If I can do that for fun, I can do this.”

Three or four weeks ago, he was feeling upset that there weren’t any more protests scheduled in Saranac Lake at the time. He doesn’t know how to organize a protest. But he knows how to stay dedicated to a purpose for hours on end.

He ran a 24-hour race two weeks earlier with his wife Ann. Monroe said he planned for his extended protest the same way he plans for a race — bringing extra cloths, plenty of food and water and a steely mindset.

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Rights

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On one side of his sign, Monroe carried three names: “Mahmoud,” “Rumeysa” and “Abrego.”

Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil was taken from his apartment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 8. Khalil has not been charged with a crime. ICE revoked his student visa and permanent resident green card for his leadership in the anti-Israel group Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which has stated support for Palestinian liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.

During the Columbia protests, Khalil said there is “no place for antisemitism” in the protests.

Last week, a federal judge found that his ongoing detainment is likely unconstitutional.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to an El Salvadorian prison from Maryland in March under allegation that he is member of the MS-13 gang. Garcia arrived in the U.S. illegally as a teenager, citing fear for his life as gangs threatened his family. He married a U.S. citizen.

His deportation to a prison in a country he had sought refuge from, which violates a 2019 judge’s ruling that this would pose a danger to his life, has been described by the federal government as an “administrative error.”

President Donald Trump has provided unsubstantiated evidence that Garcia is involved in MS-13. Garcia has not been charged with or convicted of a crime in either the U.S. or El Salvador.

Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk was taken off the street in Boston by plainclothes ICE agents who put her in an unmarked SUV in March. Ozturk’s student visa was revoked without her knowledge. She has not been charged with a crime and was detained by the federal government for co-writing a pro-Palestinian article in her student newspaper. ICE claims she supports Hamas.

She was released on bail in early May, with a federal judge saying her claims that her First Amendment and due process rights were violated were “very substantial” and “very significant.”

“Some people might say, ‘Well, they’re not citizens, so they don’t have those rights,'” Monroe said. “If you read the Constitution, they do.”

He points out that the Constitution distinguishes between “citizens” and “people” and that the Bill of Rights grants rights to “people,” not just “citizens.”

When these rights are violated and those violations go unchallenged, then he feels America not under the rule of law anymore.

These violations start with the “others” — people from other countries, the leaders’ enemies — and then anyone.

The state of his country makes him sad. He thinks about it “too much.” Sometimes, he goes on a long run to clear his mind. But he feels better doing something like this.

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Support

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Monroe was alone most of the time during his vigil, but had friends and family keep him company. He would take walks around town to loosen his back up and took short breaks in his wife’s car to have hot soup and coffee.

“I’ve been well-provisioned,” Monroe said.

As he spoke to the Enterprise on Friday night, his neighbors — Mariann and Oleg Neverovitch — popped by to deliver him some food.

The Neverovitches immigrated to America from the USSR in 1992.

“I’ve been watching my adopted motherland slowly transforming into my former motherland,” Oleg said.

Melissa Kukurudza and Justyna Babcock were “mom-ing” Monroe before they went to bed at 10 p.m. Friday, making sure he had his phone, an umbrella and enough food. They woke up at 1:30 a.m. to return to town to keep him company through the night.

Kukurudza and Babcock have done their own extended forms of protest and activism.

Last year, Babcock ran 34 marathons over the winter, raising money for a group of Ukrainian refugees who are living in her home country of Poland.

Kukurudza has been organizing a weekly protest in Riverside Park to support Ukraine and call for an end to Russia’s war on the country every Wednesday since last May.

Monroe said he wanted to make more people aware, to give people permission or motivation to do something themselves.

“People that are hesitant to get involved, if they see somebody do something, it kind of gives them permission,” he said.

He got mixed reactions — honks, waves and peace signs, as well as louder, more aggressive honks and burnouts — but said he saw more positive than negative response.

Action

Monroe said people who support his cause should call their representatives, write a letter to the newspaper or find a rally to attend.

There is now another protest scheduled for June 14 in Riverside Park, part of a planned nationwide series of protests called “No Kings Day.”

June 14 is Flag Day, Trump’s birthday and the date of his planned military parade in Washington, D.C., which is estimated to cost about $50 million.

Holding a military parade on the president’s birthday disgusts Monroe. Mariann said it was giving her “flashbacks” to the Soviet Union.

“I was growing up in the USSR and watching these freaking parades,” Oleg said.

Trump had wanted to do a military parade in his first term, but was talked out of it.

“There’s nobody to talk him out of things now,” Monroe said.

He said it’s not just Trump he was protesting — it’s the entire right-wing movement, which he said has been growing for years with a lot of money behind it.

Monroe said the U.S. is currently an oligarchy — really a plutocracy — a small group of uber-rich people with an inordinate amount of power.

He believes the need for action is immediate. And he doesn’t think it will come from leaders — not from the Democratic party, not from the courts.

“It’s not about right or left. It’s about right or wrong,” the sign on his back read.

Monroe is not even sure if there will be midterm elections. He fears there could be an emergency, martial law could be declared and the elections postponed.

He feels the only way out is through action from the people — mass strikes and demonstrations in the streets.

“It’s worked in other countries at other times,” he said.