USA TODAY National
Millions of people turned out nationwide on Oct. 18 to protest actions by the Trump administration and celebrate their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
The crowds at an estimated 2,700 rallies across the country included older Americans who protested Vietnam or never protested anything before, veterans who said they didn't fight for a country led by a dictator, and young people who are frustrated by the lack of opportunities available to them. Many said they were upset by the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants and other vulnerable populations.
If crowd estimates hold, the one-day "No Kings" event was the largest civil action in the United States since the first Earth Day, 55 years ago. No major incidents or arrests were reported during the day.
Republican leaders spoke out ahead of the Saturday protests, blaming them for the current government shutdown and labeling them "hate America" rallies.
In Cathedral City, California, protesters waved handmade signs and one carried a Trump-lookalike mannequin. In Fort Collins, Colorado, one man brought his horse to the protest. Several protesters in Fort Myers, Florida, were seen wearing inflatable costumes, as they lined the side of a highway.
U.S. Army veteran Brian Wofford, who was wounded while serving in Iraq, attended a rally in Oklahoma City in his green service coat emblazoned with the honors he had earned in the military.
"I was willing to die and lost a leg in a foreign country fighting for their rights," said Wofford, a lifelong Oklahoman who lives in Moore. "There’s no way I’m bending the only knee I have left for a king here in America. I can’t sit idly by while rights are trampled on and ignored, and people are pushed and treated like second-class citizens."
Annalise Smith, a 19-year-old New York University student, was attending a protest for the first time, she told USA TODAY.
"It’s nice to be out here to see that humanity in society is still alive and well," Smith said.
Here's what USA TODAY and USA TODAY Network journalists saw and heard over the course of the day.
Crowd estimated at largest in recent history
No Kings organizers estimated that 7 million Americans turned out for one of the more than 2,700 protests.
The estimate, like most made the day of an event, is likely to change as it is examined by experts in the coming weeks.
It's difficult to get an accurate count immediately after a protest, said Jeremy Pressman, the co-founder of the Crowd Counting Consortium at Harvard University and the University of Connecticut, which publicly tracks crowd sizes at protests.
After the first "No Kings" rallies in June, It took several weeks for the Crowd Counting Consortium team to create its estimate using figures from media reports, photos and video of the events, and organizer accounts. That crowd was estimated at about 5 million people.
If the 7 million figure holds, if would place Saturday's action among the largest protests in the last 60 years.
- Sarah D. Wire and Jeanine Santucci
95-year old activist: Country must resist, keep protesting
On California’s agricultural Central Coast, Dolores Huerta, the 95-year-old union organizer and civil rights activist, said the farming community of Watsonville has always been a place of “resistance.”
Speaking at a "No Kings" rally in the city’s downtown plaza, Huerta, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW), said the country was facing something "most of us thought we would never see in the United States of America.” Decades ago, Huerta and the late UFW co-founder Cesar Chavez organized farmworkers in Watsonville and other California agricultural communities that rely on immigrant labor.
Today, people, she said, "are being terrorized." She called detention and deportation efforts by the administration “ethnic cleansing” of people of color, including those who are Indigenous to the continent.
"We are going to resist and we are going to keep on protesting until it stops," Huerta said.
Huerta, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, has spent her life advocating for improving conditions for farmworkers and other underserved communities.
- Roseann Cattani
'Trans friends that are scared for their lives'
Several hundred people turned out for the "No Kings II" protest at the Augusta County Courthouse in Staunton, Virginia.
"It's just really sad to see what's going on," said Alice Gladwell, 22 of Richmond.
"I have trans friends that are scared for their lives, they're scared that they're not going to be able to who they are," she said tears streaming down her face and apologizing for getting emotional. "People of color don't feel safe anywhere and it's very sad to see. So stuff like this is really important to make sure everyone is safe and okay."
Dr. Jena Crisler, an internal medicine physician, campaigning for the House of Delegates in District 35, joined the protest and is running for office because she is "outraged."
"I have spent my whole career protecting my patients and making sure that lives are better. Our healthcare is at risk …We are about to lose Medicaid funding which people don't understand actually supplies the Affordable Care Act. And if that goes away, it all crumbles underneath us."
- Monique Calello
Why so many frog costumes?
In a viral video captured earlier this month, a federal agent sprayed a chemical agent directly into the air vent of an inflatable frog costume, according to the Oregonian.
Since then, inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, have been embraced by protesters as a symbol of resistance.
- Sarah D. Wire
Not Republican vs. Democrat, but rich vs. poor
Autumn Weaver, 35, dressed as Marie Antoinette, was among thousands of protesters who descended on the Iowa State Capitol.
“People need to realize that it’s not Republican versus Democrat. It is actually the rich of our country versus the working class people,” said Weaver, who is running for Boone’s City Council. “Instead of saying, ‘Let them eat the cake,’ I say let us eat the rich.”
Many other protesters in Des Moines were wearing inflatable costumes. Local shops, including The Theatrical Shop, were selling out of the inflatable.
Colorful signs waved above the crowd, declaring support for LGBTQ groups, immigrant rights, and veteran affairs.
“I'm a gay person living in Warren County, which can be challenging sometimes, but I'm really here to speak up for immigrants and for my trans brothers and sisters,” said Kevin Mullims, 43. “Just for a day, I want to be inspired by the Iowans around me and not feel scared, afraid, disappointed, and it's exactly that.”
- Thai Theodoro
Reno organizers say GOP rhetoric was a turnout boon
Some Republicans called the protests unpatriotic. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said they were driven by “the pro-Hamas wing and the Antifa people.”
"No Kings" organizers in Reno say such rhetoric inspired a spike of interest.
“The minute they started lying and scaremongering about our events, our numbers went ballistic,” said Kimberly Carden of Indivisible Northern Nevada, a local organizing group. “It’s going to be historic.”
- Mark Robison
Rain didn't deter protesters in Springfield, MO
Thousands of people lined South National Avenue between Bennett and Sunshine streets in Springfield, Missouri, waving signs at passing cars despite rainy weather.
- Bruce E. Stidham
Thousands at Arizona state Capitol
Thousands gathered in front of the Arizona state Capitol building with signs, flags and bullhorns.
Among them were Scottsdale couple Denise and Rich Heinrich, one of the many attendees wearing themed costumes.
Rich wore an Uncle Sam-inspired outfit, while Denise wore signs calling out President Trump’s connections to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Geezers, get out there and fight for your country. Everybody, every age. You’re not too old to resist,” said Denise, 73.
She and her husband stopped regularly to take a photo with eager protesters.
“I’m worried about this country. Our democracy could very easily disappear,” said Rich, 76. “To see this country turn into a third world dictatorship is sickening.”
- Stephanie Murray, Rey Covarrubias Jr. and Wren Smetana
'We have to stand up and do something about it'
Avarice Guerrero, a Marine Corps veteran, said he came out to the "No Kings" rally in Cathedral City, California to take a stand against what he called growing fear and division under President Donald Trump's leadership.
"I've been getting phone calls from my own family who are Hispanic, who are legally here, but they have friends that fear," Guerrero said. "That has inspired me to take more of a stand."
He said his time in the military reinforced his belief that the country should uphold its democratic values and protect its people, not follow a single leader's ideology.
"I thought we were trying to present ourselves as noble and just, and this has gone toward racism and control — something I thought the U.S. was never about," Guerrero said.
He said conversations with his family have grown more difficult as fear spreads among Latino communities.
"How can you tell your mom and dad that they could be stopped just because of the way they look?" Guerrero said. "I don't want to tell them to stay home, but I also don't know what to tell them. I can't just say everything will be OK because I don't know if that's true."
He hopes his presence at the rally will send a message from those who have served.
"The military made an oath to the people, not to a dictator," Guerrero said. "I'm here to show those of us who served know this is wrong, and we have to stand up and do something about it."
- Jennifer Cortez
'I want better for my country'
“Dump on Trump,” read a sign worn by a canine activist named Gus, who joined several hundred human protesters at the "No Kings" rally in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
“He had to get involved when the time came,” joked Elizabeth Szabat of Akron, Gus’ owner.
Szabat attended the protests with her parents, whom she described as Baby Boomers who grew up during the Vietnam War but are only now protesting for the first time. They also planned to attend the "No Kings" rallies in Akron and Kent.
“I want better for our country – and so does he,” Szabat said, pointing to Gus.
She said it buoys her spirit to be around so many others who share her concerns and fears.
“It helps to know so many others feel the same way,” said Szabat, who also attended rallies in June. “It makes it feel like we may have a little bit of a fighting chance.”
- Stephanie Warsmith
'Not scared,' New Yorker protester says
Melissa Reynolds, of Ossining, New York, joined the protest in New York City. She said it was important to show that Americans were "not scared."
She held a handmade sign illustrated to look like the infamous birthday note President Donald Trump allegedly gave to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (the Trump Administration denies the president was involved). The sign was emblazoned with the words "Believe The Victims."
"This is our country," Reynolds told reporters. "We are not going to cave to petty dictators. We're here for the long run. This is just the start."
At a protest along Route 59 in Nanuet, New York, public school teacher Skye Pisco, of Suffern, said she was at the demonstration because she's witnessed "first hand" how the Trump administration was affecting her students and people who are close to her.
"I have seen people protesting in this area every weekend and I've wanted to come join them, and this was my opportunity," Pisco said. "I'm here to make sure that they know that even though we might not be as loud as they are, that we are here and we are fighting back."
- Seth Harrison, John Meore, Ashley Fontones and Eduardo Cuevas
Veteran: 'I just feel compelled'
Retired Marine Shawn Howard, 55, said after serving in Iraq and working for the CIA for 20 years, he is extremely dismayed at what he sees happening.
"I feel like our democracy is under threat and has been for some time," said Howard, who marched in DC. "I just feel compelled to do something."
New Jerseyans protest Trump policies
Thousands of New Jerseyans demonstrated in towns across the state. In Jersey City, Grace Smith held a homemade sign that read: "No Kings Since 1776."
"Seeing so many people here shows that we're ready to fight this administration," she said.
- Scott Fallon
Protester concerned about voting rights
Celeste Pleasant, 74, of Detroit was among hundreds protesting in Detroit Saturday morning.
It was the first chance she had to get out and protest this year. She’s concerned with how Hispanic people are being treated, doesn’t like how Trump talks about people being felons when he has been convicted as well, and is worried about threats to vaccines.
She also is concerned about voting rights, saying people fought for her right as a Black woman to cast a ballot.
People need to stand up and act, she said, before sharing something she learned growing up: “Sitting still and waiting never made one great.”
- Darcie Moran and Natalie Davies
Thousands line busy intersection in Vero Beach, Florida
In Vero Beach, Florida, protesters descended on State Road 60 at 58th Avenue, normally a busy shopping area, with signs, horns and shouts.
A group of Young Democrats of Indian River County estimated at least 3,150 people standing in protest by 1:30 p.m.
Pro-Trump supporters touted flags with slogans including “Trump Won” and “MAGA country,” but were outnumbered by No Kings protestors.
People donned red Handmaid's Tale-style cloaks, signs criticizing Trump’s failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and sending the U.S. military into some cities, including Chicago and Memphis.
“I never protested during the 60s, which was my era, but I’ve been out here to every single one and I will continue to be here until (Trump's) gone from office,” said Vincenza Gelardi, 75, of Vero Beach. “We’ve got to get our America back.”
“Only immigrants know how important it is to live in a place like the United States,” continued Gelardi, who immigrated at 8 years old from Italy to the United States.
Among the crowd were families who showed up together to protest.
“I wanted to be here with my parents to make sure that everyone knows that it’s not just old people and middle-aged people; it’s also families old and young,” said Andrea Teichner, 60, from Atlanta who joined her Vero Beach parents.
- Gianna Montesano
'I Don’t Like My Culture to Be Erased'
Draped in a Mexican flag, a man named Isaac, of Cathedral City, joined demonstrators at the “No Kings” rally there to stand for democracy, unity, and his community.
Isaac, who declined to share his full name out of concern for his safety, said he was born and raised in California and wears the Mexican flag proudly to honor his heritage.
"I am an American citizen, but I like to wear this for others to know my origins as well," he said. "I don't like my culture to be erased."
He said he also attended the previous rally in June and returned because the challenges facing his community have only deepened.
"It's all connected — ICE going after our people, Trump being a fascist. It's all connected at the end of the day," he said.
- Jennifer Cortez
Flew to DC for the protest
Tetia McMichael, 58, of Asheville, North Carolina flew to Washington, DC, for the protest.
It was important to come "for our democracy, to support our democracy" she said. "And to stand up for human rights."
Nearby a brass band played "God Bless America," as the crowd danced and sang along.
Hundreds turn out for 'No Kings' protest in Mansfield, Ohio
Kelly Christy has always voted Republican.
"What's going on is not Republican," the Shelby, Ohio, woman said. "What's going on is authoritarianism. I see what's going on. It's awful and it's scary.
"I've had it."
Christy was one of an estimated nearly 600 people who turned out on a sun-splashed Saturday morning for a "No Kings" protest along Park Avenue West in Mansfield, Ohio.
- Mark Caudill
Poor treatment of others motivated some protesters
William Scott Osborne, 51, of Newberry, Florida said he joined the rally in Gainesville to protest the “idiot running the country into the ground.”
Osborne doesn't like the way Trump talks to people, treats people he doesn’t like, or the fact that his supporters allow the president to get away with such behavior. Standing across from the Cora Roberson Park in Gainesville, Osborne and others held signs and waved at passersby who often honked their horns in support.
No visible counter protesters were seen at the event while The Gainesville Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network was there.
- Cleveland Tinker
Trump’s political operation trolls “No Kings” protests
As protesters gathered to criticize Trump’s policies with “No Kings” rallies, the president’s political operation was busy trolling them with images of Trump wearing a crown.
The Trump War Room account on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted two apparently AI-generated images of Trump smiling in a crown. The White House X account also shared an image aimed at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The cartoon image depicts both Schumer and Jeffries in dresses resembling those worn by Disney princesses, with a castle in the background. Jeffries has long hair and is wearing a sash reading “Princess Jeffries,” while Schumer is wearing a sash reading “princess.”
The cartoon image was posted on X by the U.S. Department of Transportation with the caption “No Kings!!” The post was shared by the White House.
-Zac Anderson
Protesters remember revolutionary roots in Lexington, Massachusetts
Hundreds of "No Kings" demonstrators gathered on a grassy knoll in the heart of Lexington, Massachusetts, the site where the first shots of the American Revolution rang out, to protest the what they described as tyranny from the Trump administration.
Many said they saw similarities between their concerns about Trump and American colonists' qualms with the British monarchy that led to the War for Independence in 1776.
Standing on the outskirts of the rally, near a statue for the Minute Men who died at the Battle of Lexington, Beth Kress, 77, said the location reminded her that “people have stood up to authoritarianism” throughout history.
In her youth, Kress said she protested the Vietnam War. But this movement against Trump, she said, felt different.
“There's so many issues here,” she said, specifically citing the administration’s immigration actions and cuts to the federal government.
-Karissa Waddick
NYC protesters span several Manhattan blocks
Thousands of protesters spanned several Manhattan blocks on a sunny Saturday. Beyoncé hits blared out as marchers slowly moved southward in midtown blocking traffic.
Smith, the New York University student, is originally from Springfield, Ohio, the town at the center of unfounded claims (repeated by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance) that Haitian immigrants were eating household pets. She said she moved to New York at 18 because she disagreed with politics in the Midwestern state. The protest in diverse, liberal Manhattan gave her hope.
“America is made for everyone,” she said.
-Eduardo Cuevas
Subway cars stuffed with protesters
A half hour before Washington's protest, a Metro car was so full the conductor begged people not to try to get on the train.
Getting off the platform at Archive/Navy Memorial, located more than a quarter mile from the main stage, took more than 20 minutes as hundreds of people tried to leave the station. Eventually, the station conductor begin waving everyone through the turnstiles. relieving the crowds.
- Sarah D. Wire
'No Kings' organizers expect 'boisterous, joyful' protesting
"I think what you'll see on No Kings II in October is a boisterous, joyful crowd expressing their political opinions in a peaceful, joyous way. People with dogs, people with kids, people with funny signs, music, dancing, laughing, community building, and a sense of collective effervescence that comes when you gather with a lot of people with a shared purpose,” Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin told USA TODAY.
Republicans in Washington have accused the protesters of prolonging the govenment shutdown, as well as hating America, being terrorists or belonging to Antifa, a loose group of anti-fascists. Organizers stress the safety and deescalation training that tens of thousands of local activists have undergone to ensure these protests are as safe as the multiple other mass demonstrations held this year.
'If we don't show up, we're not going to have any country left.'
Susan McBride, 58, of Camden, Maine, traveled to Washington for the protest.
"If we don't show up, we're not going to have any country left," she said.
Around her, the crowd, which had come to a standstill two blocks from the stage, was full of people dressed in inflatable costumes or like Revolutionary War reenactors. Some just had stickers that read "not a paid protester."
Jesùs Castro, 18, of Merced, California, said it was really important to him to come to the march and rally.
"We had to show that we are against this administration and what he's doing, he's holding us back from progress we made for so many years, and now he's just stripping our rights slowly, slowly and slowly, and he's using Project 2025, to instill his plans," said the University of Southern California student, who is studying in Washington this fall.
Are the rallies linked to the government shutdown?
For the past two weeks Republicans in Congress and some Cabinet officials have blamed the rallies as the reason Democrats won’t vote with Republicans to reopen the government.
On Friday, Republican leaders began mischaracterizing who would be at the rallies.
Speaker Mike Johnson again called the protests “Hate America” rallies that bring together “the Marxists, the socialists, the Antifa advocates, the anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat party,” during a press conference Friday.
At the same press conference, Rep. Lisa McClain, a Republican from Michigan, said there would be “mobs of radicals.”
“This weekend we'll see mobs of radicals at the hate America rally. You'll see them across the country. These are the same activists who pressed Democrats to keep our government closed; to hurt you, to divide us and to push their far-left agenda,” she said. “When you see those images, remember this, this is who Democrats are fighting for. Not you. Not our troops. Not the hardworking moms down the street. They are fighting for the most radical voices in America and make sure that they own that.”
Democrats refuse to reopen the government because they want to undo Republican cuts to Medicaid and to save a tax credit millions of low- and middle-class Americans use to pay for health insurance.
In response, organizers have questioned why Republicans are lying about who will attend the protests.
“These protests are peaceful, disciplined and grounded in solidarity. That is what they fear, our unity and we’re going to show it on Oct. 18,” Indivisible Cofounder Leah Greenberg said. Indivisible is one of the organizers.
Greenberg questioned why Republicans are inaccurately labeling protesters in a way that could potentially draw violence.
“I would ask that question to Republicans. Why are they inciting and smearing millions of regular Americans, teachers, veterans, members of faith communities? Why are they creating this kind of agitation directed against people who are peacefully protesting and exercising their rights?” she said.
Where is President Trump?
President Donald Trump was in Palm Beach, Florida for the weekend of the rallies. He was golfing on Saturday morning, and his weekend began with a reported $1 million a plate dinner Friday at his Mar-a-Lago club and residence.
Will the rallies be safe?
Protest organizers trained thousands in de-escalation techniques and promised the day would be safe, even as political rhetoric characterized demonstrators as being aligned with terrorist forces.
"This protest is no threat to national security, as has been ludicrously claimed," said Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, among multiple groups coordinating the rallies. "Protest is a sign of our freedom … It's what made our country stronger for 250 years."
While protest is an American hallmark, history shows demonstrations aren't always free of violence, from the clashes of the 1960s demanding equality and an end to war to the outbursts of the 2010s and early 2020s decrying police brutality nationwide.
What makes a protest breed violence? In addition to deep-seated frustrations over social conditions, experts say multiple factors can contribute, including lack of organization, overzealous law enforcement or run-ins with counter protesters.
"Once they begin to get violent it moves quickly," said Brian Higgins, a former police chief who now serves as an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York system. "It's like setting fire to tinder — it's very difficult to bring groups back under control."
-Marc Ramirez
Why so many rallies?
More than 2,500 events were scheduled in big cities, suburbs and tiny towns across the nation, dwarfing the 1,800 scheduled before the June 14 protests of the same name. The biggest protests were planned for Washington, DC, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Kansas City, San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans and Bozeman, Montana.
Since March, activists consistently scheduled same-day protests all over the country. Most were planned by local activists to represent their own community.
Craig Brown, 72, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, told USA TODAY his local group put up billboards advertising their protest hoping to appeal to people who haven't protested before.
“We know there's a lot of people sitting in their living rooms very scared, very afraid at this very moment, watching the news through the fingers on their hands because they've got their head in their hands," Brown said. "Those are the people that we're trying to speak to. We're trying to get them out of their homes, off their couches and out into the streets to voice their outrage."
Levin, of Indivisible, said organizers are looking for a day of action that has "breadth, not depth" ‒ with lots of smaller protests, rather than one giant one.
"Having one big, major national event is significantly less important to me than just about everybody in America being no more than around an hour's drive to their local event,” he said. “We want the sense to be that this is everywhere and not just folks who could afford to take the weekend off or travel to DC or some other city."
Who are hosting these?
Groups organizing the "No Kings" protests include the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Federation of Teachers, Common Defense, 50501, Human Rights Campaign, Indivisible, League of Conservation Voters, MoveOn, National Nurses United, Public Citizen, SEIU and United We Dream.
Most of the smaller protests were led by local activists, unions and grassroots groups like 50501 that have formed since Election Day 2024.
“Every rally, every march and every community gathering has been planned by local organizers,” said Sarah Parker, 50501 national coordinator and Voices of Florida executive director. “They’re using their God-given right to assemble and they are rising to this moment because they feel it is not only their duty, it is their obligation to joyfully and peacefully push back against authoritarianism like the generations that have come before us.”
Why is it called 'No Kings'?
The name "No Kings" comes from the organizers' belief that Trump is acting like a monarch rather than the leader of a democracy.
This was the second "No Kings" day. The first took place on June 14 to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day when there was a military parade in Washington, DC, in honor of the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
"We now have more events on the map for October 18th than we had on the day of No King's in June," Levin said before the protests. "So it will be the largest peaceful protest in modern American history if all goes well.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'No Kings' rallies ran from coast-to-coast; protesters waved signs, wore costumes
Reporting by Sarah D. Wire and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
LAist
The Oklahoman
News4JAX
Newsweek Top
Local News in New York
Associated Press US News
Raw Story
Associated Press US and World News Video
AlterNet
America News