ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thousands of demonstrations took place across the nation on Saturday, protesting the Trump administration, as part of the third “No Kings” day.
Residents and demonstrators from multiple organizations all across New York state said Saturday that the weekend’s “No Kings” protest is expected to be one of the largest turnouts ever to oppose President Trump’s policies. Groups were fired up from various issues, from the administration’s immigration enforcement strategies to the events that have occurred in Minnesota and the recent conflicts taking place in Iran.
“When we look around our country, when we look around our community these days, they’re under attack,” 1199 SEIU vice president Tracey Harrison said. “So for us, it was just a no-brainer that we definitely had to be involved with this No Kings event, but the third year.”
The first “No Kings” protest in June drew a reported 5 million participants, according to the coalition behind the campaign. Going into its third event this year, they expect that number to continue to grow.
“They say if we get 3.5% of the population actively protesting, I’m sure that they know that if they can’t support and hate what’s going on,” League of Women Voters of Rochester president Barbara Grosh said. “But that’s enough to change. So that’s our goal.”
“Unfortunately, because we are seeing folks who are going through some of the most extreme situations, whether it’s mental health, financial distress, poverty, homelessness, folks are fed up,” Harrison said. “We’re tired.”
Lining the main streets, protesters waved their signs and cheered whenever cars passing by honked in solidarity.
“If you want things to go better, you have to get to voting,” Grosh said. “And voting is just the first step, right? You have to come back to the people you elected over and over and tell them what’s working and what’s not working.”
The protests drew in advocates calling for a change on numerous issues.
“There are no kings in this country,” Harrison said. “It’s about democracy, it’s ensuring that the people truly have a voice, and those voices need to be heard.”
And they even drew in younger crowds.
“I saw the videos that happened in Minnesota and it was so disgusting and I felt so angry, and I wanted something,” high school student Mariana Albino-Toro said. “I wanted something productive to do with my anger because I didn’t want to just, like, scream and cry about it towards nothing. It’s our future that we are fighting for, like, it’s great to see old people that care because most of the old people that are in power don’t care. But young people need to care because we’re going to be the ones that are here when they’re gone.”
Mariana Albino-Toro was invited to speak at the “No Kings” rally following her advocacy work at Rush-Henrietta High School, where Toro and dozens of students from the school walked out in protest of the policies being implemented by the Trump administration.
“It’s one of the first times that I felt patriotic in like a long time because, like, I always felt like, like I care so much and a lot of people don’t care that are like my age,” Toro said.
And as demonstrators gathered in protest of the Trump administration across New York state, so did President Trump’s supporters during the “No Kings” rally in Buffalo.
“It truly goes to the point [that] the people together will never be divided,” Harrison said. “You cannot separate folks for what’s important and standing tall and standing in support of what’s right.”