While President Donald Trump prepared to deliver a two-hour speech to Congress Tuesday night, a crowd of more than 100 people showed up in front of Newton City Hall for a vigil to show their opposition.

“This is a great view from up here,” Rev. Debra Haffner of the First Unitarian Universalist Society said to the crowd.

The vigil came after weeks of executive orders from the White House cracking down on immigration, pausing medical research and barring DEI programs.

“We will not cede this democracy to the authoritarians in Washington,” Haffner said.

Rabbi Allison Berry, former co-senior rabbi of Temple Shalom, talked about her son thinking Trump administration policies are “normal,” and her mission to have them not be accepted as such.

“We strive for peace, we hold on to hope, we don’t give up, and most importantly for every single one of us—and this is an act of protest by being here—we choose to love,” Berry said.

The vigil was organized by the League of Women Voters of Newton, which is taking a more active role in promoting democracy and participation at the grassroots level.

“Of vital concern to us at this moment is the viability of our Constitution and our democracy,” LWVN Co-President Frieda Dweck said.

LWVN Co-President Jane Harper urged people in the crowd to take a more active role in shaping their local democracy.

“Support our state and local government by paying attention to what our representatives are doing,” Harper said. “Observe a City Council meeting or a School Committee meeting, and comment on things that matter to you so s0 that your elected officials hear from you.”