The political and free speech firestorm over late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension is hitting home.

Dozens protested outside of Connecticut’s ABC affiliate on Thursday, demanding that WTNH Channel 8 start airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” again.

Although ABC reinstated the show on Tuesday, the station’s owner Nexstar Media continues to preempt it in markets across the country.

The crowd outside the station was small, but protesters said big issues are stake.

“If comedians can’t criticize politicians, you know, we’re going down the path of the kind of fascist things that happened many, many years ago,” said Frank Panzarella, of New Haven.

Kimmel returned to the airwaves Tuesday night following his suspension over controversial comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.

But not in a quarter of the country.

Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcasting, which together own 70 local ABC affiliates, said they will not air Kimmel as talks continue with Disney, the network’s parent company.

“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘’Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” Nexstar said in a statement on Tuesday. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”

The company had no comment about Thursday's protest in New Haven.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is available in parts of Connecticut on WABC Channel 7 in New York, as well as ABC affiliates in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The program is also streaming on Hulu.

Far more is at stake than one television show or one local station.

Nexstar is seeking government approval for a $6 billion takeover of Tegna, which owns Hartford-based Fox 61. Both broadcasters pulled Kimmel off the air shortly after Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr threatened ABC with regulatory action over the comedian's Kirk comments – but both insist that Carr had nothing to do with the decision.

A key state lawmaker isn’t so sure.

State Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) is asking Connecticut Attorney General William Tong to review the merger, arguing “it would dramatically reduce consumer choice and lead to monopolization of news coverage in the Hartford-New Haven media market.”

“Absolutely the state has a role here, because the state has longstanding anti-trust laws looking at consolidation industries writ large,” Lesser said on Thursday.

In Congress, Democrats have called for Carr, Nexstar and Sinclair to all testify about the Kimmel situation. And Sen. Chris Murphy recently introduced the No Political Enemies Act, designed to protect media outlets and others from retaliation by the Trump administration.

“Trump’s FCC forced a major network to pull a loud Trump critic, Jimmy Kimmel, off the air,” Murphy said last week. “Essentially saying that any media actor that doesn’t say what Trump wants them to say about Charlie Kirk or Trump's policies is going to be silenced.”

Gov. Ned Lamont also urged Nexstar to reach a deal to return Kimmel to the air.

“I think if you’re a champion of free speech, you want to make sure government doesn’t get in the way.” he said. “Corporations can't tell us what’s appropriate political satire or not. I want WTNH to get them back on the air.”

Locally, protesters hope to exert their own pressure with advertisers. “I will take a look at that list, and if there’s somebody that I normally patronize, I won’t do it anymore,” said Lori Chambers, of Hamden.