{"id":430928,"date":"2026-10-18T02:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T02:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/430928\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T02:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T02:52:15","slug":"no-kings-protesters-gather-in-florida-capital-ahead-of-election-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/430928\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No Kings’ protesters gather in Florida capital ahead of election"},"content":{"rendered":"

\""No<\/p>\n

“No Kings: Vote Early” demonstrators participate in a rally in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. General Election early voting in Leon County begins Monday, Oct. 19. More photos to follow on tallahassee.com.<\/p>\n

Sarah Cheatham\/Tallahassee Democ<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network, Reuters<\/p>\n

The crowd may have been distinctly smaller at the fourth No Kings protest in Florida’s state capital on Oct. 17. And yet, as one protester put it, the enthusiasm was “even bigger.”<\/p>\n

Hundreds came out for Tallahassee’s last No Kings before the Nov. 3 midterm election. Among this protest’s signs that can be printed in a family newspaper were “ICE should be in drinks, not in our streets,” and “Are we ‘great’ yet? ‘Cause I just feel embarrassed.”<\/p>\n

The nationwide No Kings protests were organized in opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies, with demonstrators accusing him of overstepping presidential authority. <\/p>\n

Highlighting Saturday’s event in Tallahassee was the “Eyeball Brigade,” a crew of folks that donned papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 eyeballs on their heads. Their message? “Eyes Are Watching.”<\/p>\n

“We want people to keep an eye on democracy,” Eyeball Brigade organizer Doug Schrock said. “Keep an eye on voting rights; keep an eye on ICE.”<\/p>\n

Supporters of Trump say the protests mischaracterize his presidency, arguing that the administration’s actions reflect legitimate conservative policies and the mandate it received from voters. <\/p>\n

“Republicans in Florida have turned our state into a beacon of freedom and we will continue to deliver for Floridians,” Republican Party of Florida chair Evan Power said. “Just another reason why Floridians are fleeing the Democrats and have led us to have a 1.54 million voter advantage.”<\/p>\n

Mark Powell, a retired hurricane scientist who lives in Tallahassee, showed up wearing a blue “Ron DeFascist” T-shirt, a swipe at Florida’s current Republican governor, Ron DeSantis. <\/p>\n

Among other things, Powell said he was disheartened by the recent Hope Florida Foundation controversy. It centered on $10 million from a Florida Medicaid settlement routed through a charity to groups that helped fund opposition to the 2024 recreational-marijuana amendment. <\/p>\n

That prompted investigations and allegations that public money was improperly used for political purposes. A court later ordered a grand jury report that investigated possible wrongdoing into the arrangement to be expunged. <\/p>\n

“It’s been one thing after another,” Powell said. “You feel like you don’t have a voice anymore because of all the chaos. It’s good to be around people who feel the same.” <\/p>\n

No Kings: Focus on ‘chaos, corruption, cruelty’ in White House<\/p>\n

The No Kings movement began last summer and has mobilized millions across the country for peaceful protest. Throughout, the movement has made clear its goal has been to bring visibility to what it calls the “chaos, corruption and cruelty” in the White House.<\/p>\n

Protesters were set to gather in more than 70 demonstrations across Florida. For this one, the message from organizers to attendees was to encourage the voting-age public to vote early.<\/p>\n

“We have to be active and we have to vote,” said Bert Mitchell, a teacher trainer in Tallahassee. “I care about this country and I don’t like the direction it’s going … I’ve never been more excited about voting than this election and I already voted. <\/p>\n

“It’s important for people to get involved so they can show that change is possible. But you have to get off the couch,” he added. <\/p>\n

Jamila Horabin, a retired geneticist and molecular biologist who worked at Florida State University, said she wants “our democracy back and our leaders to follow the Constitution. There’s too much money in elections, too much power for the very wealthy, too much corruption.”<\/p>\n

For example, she mentioned Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was ousted as U.S. ambassador to Greece after allegations she sought $100,000 from a Trump donor while offering access to senior administration officials, which she has denied. <\/p>\n

‘We love (this country) … that’s why we’re protesting’<\/p>\n

Horabin also wanted to make one thing clear: “We don’t hate this country. We love it and that’s why we’re protesting.”<\/p>\n

Kagan Culliton, a student of architecture at Florida A&M University, said protesting can be a civic duty as much as voting or jury duty. <\/p>\n

“I can use my voice but I have friends in my program who are not American citizens and I want to be here for them too,” Culliton said. “They have been scared that if they went home for vacation or for a holiday that they would not be able to come back ….<\/p>\n

“What makes me angriest,” Culliton added, “is how blatant this administration has been, breaking the law, starting a war (in Iran) without consulting Congress, accepting a plane.” <\/p>\n

Trump’s administration accepted a luxury Boeing 747-8 from Qatar for use as Air Force One, a controversial arrangement that critics say raises constitutional, ethical and national-security concerns over accepting such a valuable gift from a foreign government.<\/p>\n

“It’s not just the orange man,” Culliton went on, referring to Trump, “but everyone in his administration.”<\/p>\n

This story includes previously published reporting, including by Stephany Matat. Jim Rosica is a member of the USA TODAY Network \u2013 Florida Capital Bureau. Reach him at jrosica@tallahassee.com and follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL. <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: ‘No Kings’ protesters gather in Florida capital ahead of election<\/p>\n

Reporting by Jim Rosica, Tallahassee Democrat \/ Tallahassee Democrat<\/p>\n

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

\"The The “Eyeball Brigade,” created and organized by Doug Schrock, attends the “No Kings Tallahassee: Our Voice, Our Vote” rally in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. Sarah Cheatham\/Tallahassee Democ USA TODAY Network, Reuters \""No “No Kings Tallahassee: Our Voice, Our Vote” demonstrators participate in a rally in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. Sarah Cheatham\/Tallahassee Democ USA TODAY Network, Reuters <\/p>\n

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

This story was originally published October 17, 2026 at 1:40 PM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“No Kings: Vote Early” demonstrators participate in a rally in front of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-430928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430928","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=430928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}