THOUSANDS JOIN ‘HANDS ACROSS NJ’

Constitution Day protest spans state from the Hudson River to the Delaware

Lining South Street in Morristown.

Braving an off-and-on drizzling rain, 150 people gathered on Wednesday to line the streets of Morristown, part of a statewide Constitution Day protest organized by an ad hoc group called Hands Across New Jersey. They were part of scattered gatherings stretching from the George Washington Bridge on the Hudson River to Washington Crossing Bridge on the Delaware. The protest involved a wide range of progressive groups, Indivisible chapters, and unions. It drew video support messages that were made available to all the participants from Senator Andy Kim and Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who read the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, and a letter of support from Senator Cory Booker.

Among the groups joining the event in Morristown, which lined the streets for blocks around Morristown Green, were Warren County Indivisible, Mendham Township Dems, the Visibility Brigade of Essex/Morris, Red Wine and Blue, Team No Nonsense, and Action Together Warren County. Pam Dennison, a senior with Action Together Warren County, when asked why she was there said, “I can’t bear what’s happening to the country, it’s a nightmare. We can’t just be silent. So many politicians are kowtowing, they are afraid. Having these events tells us we’re not alone.”

Hands Across NJ, in Morristown.

“We’re seeing a disregard for what’s laid out in the Constitution, the separation of powers, limits on the role of the president,” Dave Sica, 70, a retired photographer from Phillipsburg, told The New Jersey Democrat. “Some people feel it’s being trampled on. I’m here because I don't want my kids to grow up in North Korea.”

Across the street, in the park, stood a bronze statue of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette, conversing, and among the protesters were people bearing copies of the Constitution.

More than 6,500 people signed up to participate in the day’s events, according to the organizers of Hands Across NJ, Christine Rea-Briskin and Kathleen Carozza. The two women came up with the idea back in April or early May, said Rea-Briskin, who helps run an Indivisible chapter in Hawthorne, and started rallying supporters for Constitution Day, September 17. From the beginning, it was designed to be a grassroots movement, and they began reaching out statewide to progressive groups and organizations.

“We know there’s one party that’s supporting the Constitution, and we’re leaning that way. But both parties have failed us,” Rea-Briskin told TNJD. “And I really think that the cultivation of people from the grassroots up is how we need to build the Democratic party.”

On the bridge over the Delaware River.

According to the group’s website:

On Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, September 17, 2025, thousands of New Jerseyans will join hands from Fort Lee to Washington Crossing Historic Park, across Revolutionary War battlefields, Wawas, diners, small towns, and national parks, to form a living chain of resistance against authoritarianism.

The day’s events were eventually backed by a wide range of groups, including Indivisible’s the Resistance Alliance, Hawthorne; TroubleNation Team No Nonsense North Jersey; Indivisible Lambertville New Hope/NJ; the Actors Equity Association: the American Federation of Musicians, NJ Local 16-248: The Beacon Teaneck: GWB Indivisible, MCH Forward, SOMA Action, and others. Dozens of “mile monitors” signed up to help organize the events along the route.

Indivisible Lambertville/New Hope was at the bridge at Washington Crossing Historic Park, and some participants drove from three hours away to take part. Hundreds lined the streets of Haddonfield.

Lining up near Washington Crossing.

Jeanne Apryasz of Hampton, 55, a retired school superintendent and a member of Indivisible Sussex, was one of the people lining South Street in Morristown. “Our Constitution as been under threat for decades, she told TNJD. “I’m here to help save our democracy.”

Hands Across NJ, Haddonfield.