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An estimated 700 people gathered in El Sobrante on Sat., Oct. 18 for a No Kings protest. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside<\/p>\nThis is a developing story, and Richmondside will update it as further details are available. <\/p>\n
An estimated 800 people joined No Kings protests Saturday in San Pablo and El Sobrante, joining thousands more across west Contra Costa County, the East Bay and nationwide \u2014 all standing in opposition to what many say is President Donald Trump\u2019s creeping authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
The local protests started with about 100 people in San Pablo, followed by a group in El Sobrante that swelled to about 700 people, swarming the corner of Appian Way and San Pablo Dam Road.<\/p>\n
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An estimated 700 people gathered in El Sobrante on Sat., Oct. 18 for a No Kings protest. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside<\/p>\n
Organizer Amy Prosser, who was in San Pablo, wanted to share a message with the world. She said: \u201cWe need everyone out here. We need everyone involved, we are at a tipping point \u2014 and if we don\u2019t act fast, we\u2019re going to lose our democracy and people will be violently affected by it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A crowd of \u201cNo Kings\u201d protesters gathered on 23rd Street in San Pablo Saturday. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only are people going to lose their livelihoods and be endangered economically, people are going to be at risk of imprisonment. Citizens and noncitizens and surveillance \u2014 and it can be a very, very dangerous country for people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Amy Prosser, one of the organizers of the No Kings protest in San Pablo on Saturday. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside<\/p>\n
One San Pablo participant, Janice Haugan, told Richmond she remembers growing up in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen couldn\u2019t even have a credit card without their husband\u2019s permission,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it feels like we\u2019re going backwards towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Janice Haugan fears women\u2019s rights could revert back decades if the country continues in the direction it\u2019s going. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside <\/p>\n
Julie Freestone shared why she was protesting Saturday in San Pablo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re heading towards autocracy, you know, democracy is disappearing every hour of the day. And I\u2019m here to defend democracy and show Donald Trump and the rest of his clown cabinet that Americans don\u2019t want this,\u201d she said \u201cWe want to protect our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Julie Freestone of Richmond at the No Kings protest in San Pablo. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside .<\/p>\n
Other protests were scheduled to take place in Hercules, El Cerrito and Albany.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the\u00a0second \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest\u00a0and third mass movement against the administration this year, and it comes amid an\u00a0intensifying conflict<\/a>\u00a0between federal law enforcement and protesters nationwide.<\/p>\n In June, an estimated 4 million people showed up at nearly 2,000 protests across the country, including tens of thousands in the East Bay<\/a> and more than 140,000<\/a> across the Bay Area. <\/p>\n On Saturday, protests are planned for more than 2,500 locations nationwide. Some organizers in the Bay Area<\/a> have said they expect even larger crowds this time around. <\/p>\n That proved true in El Sobrante, where an estimated 700 people gathered at 1 p.m, chanting, \u201cNo kings in the U.S.A.\u201d<\/p>\n Standing out in the crowd was Angela Ah Sam, decked out in face paint to complete her rather realistic Statue of Liberty costume, her torch held high.<\/p>\n She noted she considers herself a centrist politically but is still horrified by what she\u2019s seeing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why we shouldn\u2019t be able to talk to each other \u2014 Republicans, Democrats, Independents,\u201d Ah Sam said. \u201cThat\u2019s what our democracy is built on, is working things out.\u201d<\/p>\n Dennis Ladd, who told Richmondside he has been protesting Trump since 2017, feels like the country is approaching a police state.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is sending the military into the inner cities without constitutional approval or approved from Congress. So with his tightening up, I would think our Democratic and individual rights are at risk,\u201d Ladd said.<\/p>\n Some conservative politicians have condemned the protests as \u201cHate America\u201d rallies, with U.S. House leaders saying<\/a> the protests are meant to appease the Democratic Party\u2019s \u201cterrorist wing.\u201d Others say that it represents a \u201cpatriotic\u201d fight for First Amendment rights and that opposition to mass peaceful protest is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes.<\/p>\n For Ladd, who said he also protested during the Vietnam War, that claimed the lives of two family members, showing up at a No Kings event is the least he can do.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had family members and friends during World War 2 who were injured and killed to protect this American Flag \u2014 and it\u2019s the least I can do to stand here on a rather warm, sunny day and do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Organizers aim to boost political engagement<\/p>\n Ezra Levin, a leading organizer of Saturday\u2019s protests, said the demonstrations are a response to what he called Trump\u2019s \u201ccrackdown on First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Levin, the co-executive director of the nonprofit Indivisible, pointed to Trump\u2019s sweeping immigration crackdown, his\u00a0unprecedented promises<\/a>\u00a0to use federal power to influence midterm elections,\u00a0restrictions on press freedom<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0retribution against<\/a>\u00a0political opponents.<\/p>\n He said those steps cumulatively represented a direct threat to constitutionally protected rights. Organizers will consider the day a success, Levin said, if people are galvanized to become more politically involved on an ongoing basis.<\/p>\n The last \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest took place on June 14 in thousands of cities and towns across the country, in large part to protest a\u00a0military parade in Washington<\/a>\u00a0that marked the Army\u2019s 250th anniversary and coincided with\u00a0Trump\u2019s birthday<\/a>. \u201cNo Kings\u201d organizers at the time called the parade \u201ccoronation\u201d that was symbolic of what they characterized as Trump\u2019s growing authoritarian overreach.<\/p>\n Confrontations were isolated and the protests were largely peaceful.<\/p>\n Crackdown on protests<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s crackdown against protests, especially in Democratic cities, has intensified since the June marches. He has since sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn. His efforts to deploy troops to Chicago and\u00a0Portland, Oregon<\/a>, have stalled in federal court. He has signaled this week that San Francisco<\/a> could be the next target.<\/p>\n Federal immigration agents have arrested more than 1,000 people in Chicago, the nation\u2019s third largest city, with\u00a0increasingly aggressive tactics<\/a>\u00a0since September. Protests have been frequent and well attended in recent weeks, and have boiled over in\u00a0intense clashes<\/a>\u00a0outside a suburban federal immigration\u00a0processing center<\/a>.<\/p>\n Berkeley leaders came together to urge protesters to remain peaceful and alert to dangers posed from the federal government\u2019s response. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_3291.jpeg\")
No Kings protesters in El Sobrante on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Zoe Harwood for Richmondside<\/p>\n