Melissa Enaje/Houston Public Media
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Sugar Land Memorial Park in Fort Bend County on March 28, 2026.
Thousands of demonstrators throughout the Houston region took part in the third installment of “No Kings” protests Saturday as part of a nationwide movement in response to President Donald Trump and his administration.
Krysti Dailey was one of hundreds of protesters at the Fort Bend County demonstration gathered along a strip of highway within Sugar Land Memorial Park. The musical theater teacher and foster parent said she opted to attend her second protest at the suburban Sugar Land location, instead of City Hall in downtown Houston, in order to accommodate her two children she brought with her.
“For me, it’s really just stability of having people in office that aren’t going to make reckless decisions that could put our children’s lives in danger,” Dailey said.
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According to the No Kings website, Saturday’s protests marked a “nonviolent national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”
There has been criticism of the Republican president, particularly from Democrats, about issues such as ramped-up enforcement of federal immigration laws, tariffs and their impact on the economy, the rising cost of living and the U.S. and Israel’s ongoing war with Iran.
Dailey, a Houston ISD parent, attributed her involvement in political grassroots organizing as a way to advocate for her children’s future and to energize voters leading up to the upcoming midterm elections.
“I really hope that people will open their eyes to the harm that this administration is causing to so many people,” Dailey said, “and that those people that are being disenfranchised get out and vote. Because as somebody who has gone door-to-door, there’s just so many people who don’t vote.”
Beyond deciding who will represent Texas in Congress, voters in November also will cast ballots for county-level and statewide offices, including governor, every state House seat and 16 state Senate seats.
Several elected officials attended the Brazoria County protest, including Democratic congressional nominee Marquette Greene-Scott, who will be running against Republican Trever Nehls — the twin brother of U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls — in the 22nd Congressional District, which includes parts of Fort Bend, Brazoria and Matagorda counties.
Greene-Scott spoke to hundreds of demonstrators at Ivy Park in Pearland, a suburb south of Houston, and said there’s widespread economic frustration and concerns over democratic stability.
“My pulse is that people are angry,” she said. “Gas prices are high. Everything is high right now. We already had an affordability crisis as a result of [Trump’s] tariffs and now he causes this war in Iran.”
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Several demonstrators, including Greene-Scott, reiterated that the protests were just one part of the movement’s equation.
“I just want people to understand that today is not the end all,” Greene-Scott said. “You need to vote and you need to volunteer because it is so important. Our democracy is worth it.”
Melissa Enaje/Houston Public Media
Eli Espinosa is a U.S. veteran of the war in Afghanistan who spent two years overseas. He said his activism at the Pearland rally was a necessary stand against what he called unauthorized and illegal military conflicts.
The war with Iran was top of mind for Eli Espinosa, a U.S. veteran of the war in Afghanistan. Holding a sign that said, “Bring our troops home,” Espinosa said he holds a deep concern for the next generation of military members, arguing the Trump administration is violating its constitutional oath by deploying troops without prior congressional approval.
“Because if you think about it, the war in Afghanistan lasted 20 years, if not more,” he said. “There were kids in elementary school [when the war started] that ended up fighting in that war. I don’t want these young kids that are not even born yet to be fighting a war, an illegal war, 10, 15, 20 years from now.”
The nationwide protests against Trump, initiated by the 50501 movement, began on Presidents Day in 2025. Since the movement began, there have been thousands of protests across the country, including “No Kings” rallies in Houston last June and October.