{"id":210064,"date":"2026-03-28T22:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210064\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:59:08","slug":"downtown-orlando-sees-biggest-no-kings-protest-yet-as-rallies-spread-regionwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210064\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown Orlando sees biggest \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest yet as rallies spread regionwide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Demonstrators gathered across Central Florida on Saturday as part of a coordinated \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests, with one of the largest turnouts seen in downtown Orlando.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Protests were reported in several Central Florida locations including Sanford, Palm Bay, Poinciana and Ocala, in addition to the demonstration outside Orlando City Hall.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Organizers and attendees said the protest comes amid heightened tensions surrounding immigration enforcement, including the potential deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to assist Transportation Security Administration operations at airports, as well as discussions about a possible ICE detention center in Central Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">At one point during the demonstration, a brief moment of opposition emerged when a man sitting inside a vehicle displayed a Trump-Vance hat toward protesters. The interaction prompted visible reactions from some in the crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cWell, he was trying to incite it,\u201d one protester said. \u201cI mean, it was clearly coming from him first. I think that\u2019s an important part to report.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">From a nearby parking garage overlooking South Street, the size of the crowd was visible, with demonstrators filling sections of the roadway and sidewalks. After witnessing the exchange from above, a protester explained why they approached the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cBecause I think that people need to understand this,\u201d the protester said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about being left or right. It\u2019s about being right or wrong. And this is what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">While many participants voiced opposition to current federal policies, not all identified as Democrats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI\u2019m a lifelong Republican who doesn\u2019t support what the administration is doing,\u201d said Sarah Rumpf, who attended the downtown protest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Rumpf said her political stance has strained personal relationships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI\u2019ve lost friends. I\u2019ve lost people I cared about deeply,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s been a long tenure process of losing people. And you learn who your friends are and you learn who puts principle over party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Some attendees said Saturday\u2019s turnout appeared larger than previous \u201cNo Kings\u201d demonstrations held in downtown Orlando.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI think more and more people are feeling affected by it, and they\u2019re seeing the direct impacts on others,\u201d said Amanda Kohn. \u201cI think that people are starting to see that this isn\u2019t normal. This is what we stand for as Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Some protests in other parts of Central Florida, were met with differing opinions. Viewer-submitted video showed a group of Trump supporters gathered along a street in Palm Coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat representing Central Florida, also weighed in when asked what message he had for Republican elected officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cGrow a spine and stand up for our country and for our democracy,\u201d Frost said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">News 6 has reached out to Florida elected officials for comment on the protests.<\/p>\n<p>Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 kiwhtN\">Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Demonstrators gathered across Central Florida on Saturday as part of a coordinated \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[8131,8835,139,141,140,4219,2684],"class_list":{"0":"post-210064","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-democrats","9":"tag-no-kings-protest","10":"tag-orlando","11":"tag-orlando-headlines","12":"tag-orlando-news","13":"tag-republicans","14":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}