A man in a Tyrannosaurus rex costume waved a flag that read “No Kings in America.” A woman walked her dog wearing a sign that read “Will fetch balls for Republicans in Congress.” American flags waved high, and the scene in Washington, D.C. on Saturday was awe-inspiring as the second round of No Kings protests commenced nationwide.
Michael Hammill traveled from Ocala, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to protest the Trump administration for the “sanctity of our democracy.”
“We have chaos, we have violence,” Hammill said. “We have children being shot in schools. We have corruption at the highest levels of government; we need to get our rule of law back before any good thing can happen.”
Candice Ossman, who traveled from Northern Virginia to D.C., came out to protest President Donald Trump and his decisions regarding the Department of Education, his sexual assault court case and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, among other reasons.
“I am a public school teacher and Donald Trump has gut the Department of Education,” Ossman said. “I am a woman, and Donald Trump’s a rapist. I have a 14-year-old daughter, and Donald Trump is, at the very least, protecting pedophiles.”
Ossman went on to say she’s a Christian, and the “polar opposite" is coming from the administration. Ossman, a veteran, was also protesting against Trump’s use of troops.
“I’m sick and disgusted with the disparaging of our troops,” Ossman said. “Using them as props and his parades we apparently can’t afford because we’re cutting programs left and right, but yet we can bail out Argentina to the tune of $20 billion.”
Similar sentiments were shared across the country. Saturday’s protests gathered over 7 million people across over 2,700 events in the U.S., according to a news release from the organization. According to a survey from the Pew Research Center of 3,445 adults in the U.S., 58% have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, and 51% share the same view on Vice President JD Vance.
In Athens, protestors congregated at East State Street, lining the sidewalks, waving signs and chanting.
Over 1,600 people attended the event Saturday, according to the Athens County Democrats. Protesters welcomed the event Friday, displaying a banner that read “No Kings USA” across the bridge near Strouds Run State Park.
The protests remained peaceful and no protest-related arrests were made in major protest cities such as New York City, Washington, D.C. and Austin, according to NPR.
“I’ve never seen a violent protest, and I’ve been to lots of them,” Ossman said. “So I’m not sure why we’re having troops go into cities for that, but I love it (protesting). I love the way it feels to come out here and be seen and be around like-minded people who also understand that we’re in big trouble.”
In response to the protest, Trump took to Truth Social and shared a video generated by artificial intelligence of him as a king dropping feces from a jet onto protestors.
The No Kings Coalition, made up of several partners such as Indivisible, MoveOn and the American Civil Liberties Union, released statements on Saturday’s events.
“Today, millions of people showed that we, the people, will not be silenced,” Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for ACLU, said. “We came together in community to do the most patriotic and American thing we can: exercising our First Amendment rights by peacefully and lawfully protesting President Trump’s abuses of power.”
