Just letting you know I’m about to leave for a local No Kings Rally. I don’t expect it to be a big rally, but it’s the one I can get to. I’ll report after I get back. If I don’t get back, maybe call ICE to see where they stashed me. 🙂
Update — they didn’t get me. I had a lovely afternoon in a nearby park on the Hudson River waterfront. The organizers had expected about 400 people but at least twice that many showed up. It was a multi-generational and multi-racial crowd.
Some local officials gave rah-rah speeches. There also was some poetry and music. There were a few costumes. Someone in a Gingerbread Man blow up costume carried a sign saying NO ICEing. We also had a banana and a pickle. A public official from Sleepy Hollow came dressed as a witch. (They’re into Halloween in Sleepy Hollow. The High School football team are the Sleepy Hollow Horsemen, and their team mascot is the Headless Horseman. a costumed rider on a black horse.)
I tried to take some pictures, but most of them aren’t that good. This is probably the best one.
There was much cheering of the Constitution and booing of Trump and our Rep, Mike Lawler. The mood generally was optimistic. Nobody misbehaved. It went very well.
I understand the crowds around the country were huge. They’re saying 7 million participants. And I found this on Bluesky:
I haven’t yet seen reports of misbehaviors. The Guardian reports that Fox news is still trying to tie No Kings to George Soros and the “global intifada.” but Republicans have mostly been quiet today.
Greatvpic that's one scary radical group I'd bet antifa, ms-13 and Tren de Aragua for sure! Huge crowds in Chicago today.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10/18/no-kings-protests-trump-deportation-ice-border-patrol-grant-park
I went to a rally in downtown Tampa. I've been down to Sarasota a few times, but the schedule in Tampa fit better. It was a good crowd, definitely upward of a thousand. I will check the local news for a better estimate. I saw one MAGA truck with a Trump flag, but I saw no confrontations. There were safety people in vests watching out for the crowd. (Kudos to the organizers.) Inflatable costumes were common, and spirits were high. Local cops were patrolling but not interfering – exactly their role.
My sign was well received, Trump's mug shot with the caption above, "Support Your Local" and then below, "Pedophile!" A Trump picuture set people back on their heels with the first part of the caption. Then they got to the punch line, "Pedophile." A gotcha moment that brought a smile.
Individually, no rally delivered anything for Trump to worry about. Collectively, I'd say, based on the talking points about Antifa, they are worried. IMO, the thing that has Trumpsters, the thinking ones who wrote up 2025, most worried is the party atmosphere, the celebration of shared opposition WITHIN a democratic frame. We are exercising free speech – it's damn hard to attack.
John Lennon may have said it best:
"The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight. Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humor.”
So far, Trump's opposition is not fueling the claims that the military is required to quell riots. I think they expected them, hoped for them, and are trying to provoke them. Shooting a priest in the face with a pepper ball, and following that with a volly from the ICE rooftop pisses me off. Likewise, abducting a woman playing the clarinet. (Tuba, I can understand, and playing the accordion badly should be a misdemeanor at least.) This was a mother who did nothing and was taken out of state before she was released with no charges. The cops shot an activist, and it appears they lied about the confrontation in important particulars.
So yes, there's too much provocation for it to be accidental. IMO, Gnome wants one of her goons shot in the face by a "radical liberal." MLK would be proud of us, I think. We are showing up in growing numbers with joy, laughter, and several coherent messages. We're also not providing the military with reasons to use force against civilians. This is crucial. The liberal message may not resonate with many conservatives in the military but we are part of the flock they are supposed to protect. This stuff happens at a gut level. I firmly believe that it will come down to whether or not the military will support a coup, which there's NO excuse for in the Constitution or in the law. We must not muddle that distinction with violence.
I feel it was a huge success and that it's one of a series of turning points, in the cosmic arc of the right's demise. It brought me a step closer to feeling and envisioning what the joyous end is going to be like. When the left will have the strength, confidence and relief to be able to stand down a bit in the fight for our country's future. When things can start to return to normal.
In the meantime – George Soros, I'm waiting for my check…
I also went to a small protest in Baltimore, a few blocks away from our house, which drew about 70 people. No costumes, but like yours, it was multi-cultural, multi-generational, and 100% peaceful. It was at the intersection of "Washington St" and "Liberty Rd," if you appreciate good karma.
Our main focus was on getting drivers to honk, an effort that was wildly successful. (although I kind of pity the people living nearby. That must have been really irritating.