“America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people. Now, our task is to stay vigilant, stay united and continue to push back.”
This is the message of No Kings, an organization advocating against the current policies of the Trump administration and actions that they feel are abuses of powers. On Oct. 18, more than 7 million Americans came together across all 50 states to protest.
Protests took place in many major cities across the United States, including Washington D.C., Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Portland and all five New York City boroughs. The protests also took place in towns and communities of all sizes throughout the country.
The intentions of these protests were to spread the message peacefully. No arrests were made at any major city protests. According to bbc.com, “Several U.S. states had mobilized the National Guard. But organizers said the events, which drew nearly seven million people, were peaceful.”
WHS graduate Taylor Zinnie, now a junior at Northeastern University, attended one of the protests in Boston, MA. Zinnie said, “It was a very peaceful environment.We weren’t physically marching because there were so many people, but there were speakers, rallying the crowd and speaking to the significance of the day. It was a lot of people gathered in the same space, connecting over these similar feelings of frustration and fear.”
Through these protests, people took their chances to speak out against polarizing matters under the Trump Administration. The issues included immigration and ICE, freedom of speech and military deployment in cities. According to many of those who attended the protests, they were attempting to fight ideas of fascism.
In addition to chants and signs, people also displayed their feelings by dressing up in inflatable animal costumes that have begun taking over the anti-Trump movement. As well, protestors were breaking out into song and dance numbers to use their voices in unique, even ridiculous ways to make their point.
WHS Psychology Teacher Robert Ebert attended a protest in Rahway, NJ and said he had “an extraordinarily positive experience.” When asked about specific frustrations that led him to protest, Ebert said, “To me, [there is] a threat to our democracy and I think that 20 years from now, I want to be able to look back and say I did something, however small it was.”
Following No Kings Day, Trump took to social media to post an AI-generated video where he is depicted flying a fighter jet labeled “King Trump,” wearing a crown and flying over protests, dumping loads of what appear to be feces onto protesters.
Trump went on to call the protests “a joke” and told reporters on Oct. 19 that he believed “the demonstrations were very small, very ineffective, and the people were whacked out.” House Speaker Mike Johnson called the protests “Hate America” rallies.
It is obvious that the protests gained the attention they desired peacefully while also attracting equal amounts of support and opposition. With so many coming together to speak their feelings on the president of the United States, there is likely more to come from the people and the No Kings movement.