Protestors gathered in Times Square for an anti-Trump “No Kings” rally. (Credit: Nancy Jiang)
New Yorkers filled Times Square Saturday, joining thousands of “No King”s rallies occurring across the country to protest President Donald Trump’s administration.
“No Kings” organizers say more than 2,600 rallies were expected to take place during the national day of action. Many protesters were there to show their opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has resulted in raids in cities around the country by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Ronnie Lichtman, a 75-year-old midwife and professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center from Mount Vernon, said that in her long history as an activist, she’s never been so worried about authoritarian rule.
Ronnie Lichtman, a 75-year-old healthcare worker, says America under the Trump administration is the first time she’s felt history going “backwards” (Credit: Nancy Jiang)
“ICE is scary. They kidnap people, they disappear,” she said. “This is what happens in dictatorships, not the United States of America. Where’s habeas corpus? Where’s due process?”
Paul Corell, 73, from Kensington, Brooklyn, and a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he hit the streets with his “Hands Off Venezuela & Free Free Palestine” sign on behalf of Americans, citizens in authoritarian countries, and those living in countries under American foreign policy.
Paul Corell, an American Civil Liberties Union member from Kensington, Brooklyn, says Trump supporters’ rights are “being curtailed, too.” (Credit: Nancy Jiang)
“I might even add the ones who support Trump, their rights are being curtailed too, whether they realize it or not,” Corell said.
Sakura Abdel-Rahman, a 23-year-old art assistant from Scarsdale, said that though she feels like she’s “just started life” since graduating from college, the future under Trump looks bleak.
“I didn’t expect it to be this overwhelming, this f–king expensive,” she said. “I had to deactivate all my socials because s–t was too much to comprehend. I’m going to scream on the streets about it.”
The New York City Police Department posted on X that more than 100,000 protestors participated in rallies across the five boroughs. As demonstrators lined up in the streets of Times Square, organizers urged participants to scan QR codes to take action to “protect their neighbors from ICE raids.”
“It doesn’t end here. Don’t let it stop today,” an organizer shouted through a megaphone from a ledge.
Though organizers of the “No Kings” rally did not have specific demands for the Trump administration, participants touted signs sharing their own imperatives, ranging from “Release the Epstein Files” to “Hands Off Gaza.” Corell said he hoped “No Kings” would serve as a springboard for participants’ civic engagement.
Corell’s own work continues as a group-organizer with P.S. 139 Families for Palestine, an independent committee of parents, caregivers, and children from a Brooklyn school that raises awareness and money for children in Gaza.
“I do that every weekend, every Sunday. We raise funds for a border school in Gaza,” said Corell.