‘No Kings’ rallies draw huge crowds to protest Trump, his policies

Americans turned out en masse in communities across the country Saturday, raucously pushing back on what they see as President Donald Trump’s widening authoritarianism, attacks on immigrants and federal cutbacks to lifesaving programs.

Organizers had said that they hoped the rallies in over 2,000 cities - dubbed “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance” - would be peaceful and free of confrontation.

Yet the day was marred by the news of deadly violence overnight in Minneapolis, where two state legislators, both Democrats, were shot with their spouses in what Gov. Tim Walz called a “politically motivated” attack. Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband died, and the other couple were seriously injured. Officials said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the couple’s prognosis.

Given that the gunman was still at large and that “No Kings” fliers had been found in his car, Walz urged protesters to stay away from the many related events planned statewide. At least one in Minneapolis was canceled.

Hours later, the Texas Department of Public Safety warned of “credible threats” to lawmakers planning to attend the evening rally at the state capitol in Austin. The building was evacuated soon after; the event organizer said it would proceed as planned.

Elsewhere in the country, relatively few disruptions were reported during rallies where the mood ranged from joyful to defiant. In Philadelphia, the crowd was accompanied by the notes and beats of a saxophone, drums and tambourines. In Los Angeles, which had seen a week of protests after federal immigration raids in the area, indigenous dancers helped kick things off.

Couples came, families came, individuals who said they’d never before protested came. They carried hand-lettered signs focused on democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The scenes were a stark contrast to the one planned hours later in the nation’s capital, where Trump would preside over a grandiose display of military tanks and soldiers as part of a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday - on a day that also happened to be his 79th birthday.

“No Kings” participants compared the parade in Washington to something more commonly seen in autocratic countries like Russia and North Korea. Stephanie Henderson, who traveled to the Philadelphia rally from Smyrna Delaware, carried a sign there with pictures of three men: England’s monarch during the U.S. Revolutionary War, Adolf Hitler and Trump.

“We fought a king in 1775. We fought a dictator in 1945,” the sign read. “We will fight whatever the hell this is in 2025.”

Henderson, a state employee, said she hoped a nationwide show of resistance would send a strong message to Trump. “We need to let him know he works for us,” she said.

Atlanta

The downtown streets here, usually quiet and empty on a weekend, were packed early with people making their way to the Georgia Capitol building. “OMG GOP WTF, “ one sign read. “Have we LOST our senses?” another read. “Are we blind to the constitution?”

Ellen Frank, 60, a teacher from Melbourne, Fla., had traveled to Atlanta to protest with her daughter. She wore a red, white and blue shirt decorated with the stars of the American flag and, in honor of her grandfather and other relatives who fought in World War II, carried a sign reading, “Our Veterans Did Not Fight for This.”

“The unfortunate thing is, I feel like in the past, protests like this would get the attention of senators and congressmen, and they would say, ‘Hey, my constituents don’t approve. I’m going to go back and tell the powers that be that we cannot proceed on the path that we are following,’” said Frank, a Democrat. “But at this point … I feel like we don’t even have that. We don’t have the representation. So we need to take that power into our own.”

Onstage, Sarah Hunt Blackwell of the ACLU of Georgia kicked off the speeches, nodding to the day’s theme and to Atlanta’s history as a city shaped by the civil rights movement. “Here in Atlanta, the only king we honor is Martin Luther King,” she said.

Jade Whitaker, 24, a Democrat who works in retail in Atlanta, wasn’t able to get into Liberty Plaza because of the capacity crowd there. So she stood with what appeared to be several thousand more people outside its perimeter, straining to hear the speakers. Whitaker said she is feeling “exhausted” by everything the administration is doing, including the targeting of immigrants and the dismantling of diversity and equality programs.

“I don’t want to say we made progress because it really doesn’t feel like that,” she added, “but whatever progress there was, it feels really gone now.”

- Holly Bailey

Philadelphia

In Philadelphia, tens of thousands of people marched on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in a demonstration that stretched from City Hall to the Art Museum, a distance of nearly two miles.

They ended their march at the famous Philadelphia steps featured in the “Rocky” movie, chanting slogans such as “Let freedom ring, all the way to D.C.” and “No kings, no tyrants.” Many clutched U.S. flags and offered up patriotic songs like “America the Beautiful.” Others shouted epithets about Trump and his administration.

Sam Bender, 21, of West Chester outside Philadelphia, said he came because he fears many people, including undocumented immigrants and international students, are now too scared to speak out against the administration.

“I definitely know people who are already too afraid to leave their homes right now,” the recent Penn State graduate said. “So we need to show up and show these people they are not alone and have support from the rest of us.”

Retiree Bob Levins, 77, who lives in suburban Montgomery County, was marching because of his worries that the country is sliding toward an authoritarian state. Levins, an Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, carried a sign that read, “I served for freedom - not fascism.”

“I hope people understand what is happening to our democracy,” he said. “Right now, it’s definitely being taken from us little-by-little every week since Trump has been in office.”

- Tim Craig

Nashville

Gray clouds hung low in the sky over the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, protesters’ soggy signs evidence of the morning rainstorms. Still, organizers estimated a turnout of several thousand people, who filled the air with shouts, chants, music and frustration.

“This is what America’s supposed to be,” state Sen. Jeff Yarbro told the crowd.

Army veteran Garrett Barron, 29, and psychiatric hospital technician Gracelyn Berus, 30, came from Clarksville, Tenn., with their 6-month-old baby June.

Barron, who identifies as a “never-Trump Republican,” said he felt the president had repeatedly disrespected the military. And both he and Berus, a Democrat, worry about misinformation in right-wing media spreading lies about immigrants.

The turnout at the rally there was encouraging, though. “Nashville’s a huge city and I didn’t expect it to be nearly this big,” Berus said. “Especially being in the Bible Belt and being a Red state.”

- Maria Sacchetti

Houston

Protesters began gathering in downtown hours ahead of time, staking out spots near big speakers positioned outside city hall. By the time the rally got underway, police estimated that 10,000 were on hand.

Houston native Roberto DelToro, 47, was in the crowd holding a combination Mexican American flag.

“I was born here, but I’m extremely proud of my heritage,” said DelToro, the son of a woman who came to the United States as an undocumented migrant worker and gained citizenship. He still has other relatives who are undocumented and said he came to the “No Kings” rally to protest on their behalf because they didn’t feel safe participating.

“The way the brown community is being treated right now, profiled, is wrong. A lot of Latinos, Americans like myself, think they’re safe. They’re not,” he said.

DelToro, an independent, was raised conservative and supports gun rights but said he opposes Trump as does his Republican father. Especially after recent federal immigration raids, “there’s no way I can just stand by. The thousands of protesters surrounding him in the diverse crowd were important, he said: “Visibility is everything. … It’s our constitutional right.”

- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Chicago

Tens of thousands of people poured into downtown Chicago, the sound of drumming and the thrum of rally-goers audible for blocks around Daley Plaza.

“Do not allow these monsters to dissolve the bonds that exist across neighbors and communities,” said Norma Seledon, leadership director at Equality Illinois, aiming directly at the Trump administration. She urged those gathered to look to their neighbor and tell them, “I will stand with you.”

Participants started turning to one another and repeating the phrase, some exchanging fist bumps.

Many people expressed a mix of fear and concern over what they called Trump’s exclusionary and demagogic policies and what they described as his refusal to be bound by norms, decency - or the rule of law. But they also said they felt determined to show that regular Americans do not support what they’re seeing from the president’s policies.

Willard Burrell, 43, and his partner Latricia Constantino, 44, were taking to the street for the first time ever. The couple traveled from Davenport, Iowa to immerse themselves in the energy of a protest larger than the demonstrations unfolding at home.

“I wanted to practice my First Amendment rights,” said Burrell, who works in operations for Kraft Heinz. He didn’t vote for Trump in November and worries about his increasingly dark rhetoric on issues like immigration. “Just everything Trump is doing now - it’s not like his first term.”

- Kim Bellware

Los Angeles

Thousands of Angelenos poured into downtown, some dressed like kings with clown-painted faces, others as Revolutionary War fighters or wrapped head to toe in their national flags. Together, they formed a living snapshot of this multicultural city.

The sign that Evgney Shulgin, 43, held read “I am from Russia. Trust me, you don’t want a TSAR.”

“People need to realize there comes a point when your voice becomes irrelevant,” he said. Freedom is like air. “Once oxygen is gone, it cannot be replaced.”

Lucero Gonzalez, 33, came for family members in Los Angeles and in red states who are afraid to go out. Her parents are legal citizens, but they worry they could be arrested and so does Gonzalez.

“Every day I’m fearful they won’t come home,” she admitted.

Juan Ramirez of the American Federation of Teachers painted a dramatic contrast between the celebration in the capital and the events that have roiled Los Angeles in recent weeks.

“While [Trump] plays with tanks in D.C., he sends the military and immigration enforcement to pick up people from our streets,” Ramirez said.

Following a round of speeches at City Hall, the crowd began marching. A group of indigenous dancers led them. Thanks to street vendors capitalizing on the crowd, the smell of sizzling carnitas, bacon-wrapped hot dogs and churros scented the air.

Other than officers at the steps of city hall, police were not visible during the speakers or during the march.

- Maria Luisa Paul and Yvonne Condes

New York

Despite steady rain throughout the afternoon, protesters filled seven blocks of the famed Fifth Avenue, carrying signs celebrating liberal causes - gay rights, immigrant protections and a halt to the war in Gaza - along with American flags.

Like many in the crowd, Trump’s immigration policies are what brought out Santiago Martinez, a 25-year-old accountant who lives on the Upper East Side.

“Plenty of families … have worked their whole lives to make it in a nation of immigrants, but they are now being unnecessarily hurt,” he said. “Coming out here is showing disapproval of that, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the beginning of a larger movement in the country.”

There were no platform speakers by design. Organizers said they weren’t looking to elevate any particular politicians or organizations but instead wanted to draw on the enthusiasm of the marchers themselves.

Megan Williams, 35, who works as a baker but is studying to be a therapist, came down on the train from Poughkeepsie. She said she didn’t think the march would convert many Trump voters but was instead about showing that the opposition could be just as loud and proud.

“I’m just hoping that they see that we’re strong on our side too, you see a lot of Trump supporters out there wreaking havoc, we’re here too,” said Williams, who describes herself as a liberal. “They have done a lot of damage that is going to take generations to repair.”

- Emmanuel Felton