Thousands of Fresno residents who demonstrated at the “No Kings” protest Saturday added a new issue to a growing list of grievances against President Donald Trump: the Iran War.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters peacefully gathered outside the River Park shopping center at Blackstone and Nees avenues as part of a nationwide “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration.
The protest drew more than 10,000 protesters, according to an estimate by one of the organizing groups, Central Valley Indivisible. Protesters lined the sidewalks along Blackstone Avenue and spanned several more blocks than Fresno’s past two No Kings protests.
Some attendees said they were moved to protest because of rising gas prices after the United States and Israel attacked military targets and killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other government leaders in late February, according to the Associated Press.
Others said they were protesting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown for violent tactics, racial profiling and killings of protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota in January.
“I think it’s important to have a presence and to make people aware of all the things that are going on in our country and all the injustices, especially with ICE, and the impact that it’s having not only on our nation, but our local community and on our children in particular,” said Crystal Cabrera, a Fresno attorney.
Central Valley Indivisible, a grassroots organization, hosted Saturday’s protest from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in partnership with the national “No Kings” movement. According to the group’s website, the slogan is a nod to the idea that America is a country that belongs to the people, not a president who “thinks his rule is absolute.”
Organizer Myra Coble said that initial estimates indicate there were at least 6,000, who stretched along both sides of Blackstone Avenue between Nees and Minarets avenues near Home Depot.
Protesters carry a piece of art that depicts a deceased Statue of Liberty covered in the American flag.
(Melissa Montalvo/Fresno Bee)
Coble said there were only a few minor disturbances, such as protesters blocking traffic and ignoring requests to staff off patches of grass that border the shopping plaza’s parking lot.
“We’ve only been flipped off twice,” said Madeline Chavez, a 30-year-old Fresno substitute teacher who attended the protest with her parents.
Several young people with Fresno Building Health Communities used the protest as an opportunity to gather signatures on behalf of the citizen-led “Moving Forward Together” coalition in favor of a Measure C renewal effort. The group needs 22,000 signatures to get a ballot initiative before voters on the upcoming November 2026 ballot.
Protester holds sign about gas prices at Fresno’s “No Kings” protest near on Blackstone Avenue near River Park on Saturday March 28, 2026.
Fresno residents protest ICE
Similar to previous No Kings protests, many residents came out to oppose the Trump administration’s deportation efforts and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Madera resident Jerry Fernandez said it was his first time at a No Kings protest. He said he came out to protest because was tired of the racial profiling with the immigration crackdown. He said he’s noticed being treated differently over the years depending on when he was wearing his professional attire versus when he’s wearing a Raiders shirt.
“It’s just crazy what’s going on,” Fernandez, 60, said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Fernandez said he can’t help but think of his dad, who came to the U.S. in the early 1950s as part of the controversial World War II-era Bracero program, which brought temporary Mexican workers to work in the country’s agricultural fields on temporary visas. Around that time, in response to public pressures, President Dwight D. Eisenhower carried out a mass deportation known as “Operation Wetback” starting in 1954 that resulted in the deportation of an estimated 1.1 million Mexican nationals.
“I think about them all the time,” Fernandez said of his parents.
Riley Talford, first vice president of the SEIU Local 521 attended the protest with a chartered bus full of union members.
“We did not vote for war. We did not vote for rising prices. We did not vote for Americans to not be taken care of. We did not vote for families to be ripped apart,” he said.
Several protesters brought their dogs to the Fresno “No Kings” protest at Blackstone and Nees avenues near River Park on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
The protest comes just days after new polling data from a Reuters/Ipso poll found that President Donald Trump’s approval rate has hit a new low, at 36%, stemming largely from rising fuel prices and the war he launched in Iran.
The poll found that only 35% of Americans approve of the U.S. strikes on Iran.