Photo Gallery | Images of the Scottsdale/Camelback Roads Protest in Scottsdale, AZ
About No Kings
In June, we did what many claimed was impossible: peacefully mobilized millions of people to take to the streets and declare with one voice: America has No Kings. And it mattered. The world saw the power of the people. President Trump's birthday parade was drowned out by protests in every state and across the globe. His attempt to turn June 14 into a coronation collapsed, and the story became the strength of a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs.
Now, President Trump has doubled down. His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities. They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. Gutting healthcare, environmental protections, and education when families need them most. Rigging maps to silence voters. Ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities. Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.
The president thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don't have kings and we won't back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty.
Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger and bigger. "NO KINGS" is more than just a slogan; it is the foundation our nation was built upon. Born in the streets, shouted by millions, carried on posters and chants, it echoes from city blocks to rural town squares, uniting people across this country to fight dictatorship together.
Because this country does not belong to kings, dictators, or tyrants. It belongs to We the People - the people who care, who show up, and the ones who fight for dignity, a life we can afford, and real opportunity. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.
Source:
"About No Kings". No Kings. Retrieved 2025-10-16.
Read more about "No Kings" on Wikipedia here.
How Some Prominent Conservatives Characterized the Protest
On October 10, 2025, speaking on Fox News House Speaker Mike Johnson said:
The theory we have right now, they have a 'Hate America' rally that's scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. It's all the pro-Hamas wing and the Antifa people, they're all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. And it's being told to us that they won't be able to reopen the government until after that rally because they can't face their rabid base.
House Representative Tom Emmer (Republican-Minnesota) told reporters that Democrats had caved to the "terrorist wing of their party," also referring to a "hate America rally in D.C. next week."
On October 15, 2025, speaking from the Oval Office Donald Trump said:
I hear very few people are gonna be there, by the way. But they have their day coming up and they want to have their day in the sun.
On October 15, 2025, speaking with Sarah Eisen at the CNBC "Invest in America Forum" in Washington, D.C. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said:
Well, you there there's a thought out there that they're at least waiting to, you know, this crazy No Kings rally this weekend, which is going to be the farthest left, the hardest core, the most unhinged in the Democratic Party, which is, you know, a big title.
Media reports After the Protest
I was at the "No Kings" Scottsdale/Camelback protest in June and I estimate there were 750-1,000 people in attendance. There were more people at the October 18 protest for sure, which I estimate at 1,500-2,000, and that doesn't include all of the honking, passing vehicles (which were numerous at the June protest as well).
"No Kings" organizers said that over 2,500 protests were planned, including all 50 U.S. states.
Huge crowds were reported in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.
Source:
Hall, Richard; Schneid, Rebecca. (October 18, 2025). "Millions Attend 'No Kings' Protests Against Trump in Towns and Cities Across the U.S.". Time. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
There were few, if any reports of lawlessness.
Over 100,000 people rallied peacefully across all five boroughs in New York City. The NYPD said they made "zero protest-related arrests."
Source:
Reuters. (October 19, 2025). "'No Kings' rallies draw crowds across US to protest Trump". NewsNation. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
Progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen weighed in after the protest, discussing two AI-generated videos by posted Trump on Truth Social, and Mike Johnson's appearance on the ABC News program "This Week."
The first video depicts Trump in a fighter jet, wearing a crown, flying the jet over protesters and dumping feces on them.
The second video shows Trump, with "Trump 2028," "Trump 2032," "Trump 3036" signs, which go on ad infinitum into the future.
In the "This Week" interview, Johnson said:
But the irony of the message [of the "No Kings" protests] is pretty clear for everyone. If President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. If President Trump was a king, they would not have been able to engage in that free speech exercise out on the [National] Mall.
Read more post-protest media reports here:
Arizona No Kings rallies draw massive crowds opposing Trump | AZMirror
3 takeaways from Saturday's No Kings nationwide protests | NPR
No Kings: Demonstrators take to the streets nationwide to protest Trump administration | NBC News
Nationwide 'No Kings' protests target Trump as crowds rally in cities from coast to coast | Fox News
Leftists Across the Globe Plan 'No Kings' Day Protests | The Western Journal
Commentary
Mike Johnson's statement on Fox News is absolutely ridiculous.
He said that the "theory" they have is that there is some kind of connection between the No Kings rally and the government shutdown. What in the hell is Johnson talking about? The shutdown is about healthcare subsides, period, end of story. Making up some bogus conspiracy theory like this is the kind of thing that people like Johnson, Trump, and MAGA do all the time, and they do it to unjustly vilify liberals.
Johnson also makes blatantly false statements about the rally itself ("Hate America") and the people who will attend ("all the pro-Hamas wing and the Antifa people, they're all coming out").
Yeah, right. That's what the rally is about.
Yeah, right. It's going to be all pro-Hamas and Antifa, and they are all going to be there.
Scott Bessent's "farthest left," "hardest core," and "most unhinged in the Democratic Party" remarks are just as ridiculous as Johnson's.
Johnson, and Bessent, like Trump and MAGA, are so far removed from reality that the only way to describe them is BF (beyond FUBAR).
This kind of talk is highly divisive. Division is the breeding ground for hate, and we all know how much hate there is between conservatives and liberals.
Johnson's and Bessent's statements mirror what Trump does all the time. It's NOT OK to speak like this, but neither Johnson nor Bessent seem to give a damn. Like Trump, they exist in their own little bubble of unreality.
Regarding Johnson's appearance on "This Week," my first reaction is his smug and self-righteous demeanor. This is nothing new for Johnson, but to actually watch and hear him speak like this is troubling to say the least.
Johnson tries to deflect from the whole point and message of the protests by trying to gaslight program listeners with his Trump could open the government if he were a king, and Trump could have shutdown the protests if he were a king statements. Yes, he's right about that. But Johnson never mentions any of the long laundry list of the autocratic things Trump has done during his second term that are the underlying reasons for the protests.
Some of the B.S. that comes out of the mouths of people like Johnson continue to amaze me. Apparently, these people think that listeners don't have a brain and are not paying attention to what's going on in our country and our government. While it's true that some don't and some aren't, a much larger percentage do have brains and are paying attention.
Regarding the videos Trump posted, all I can do is shake my head in sadness and near disbelief. Posting videos like this is NOT OK. How would have Trump/MAGA responded if former President Joe Biden had posted something like this? Would THAT have been OK? It's just another painful example of how far from normalcy and decency our country has drifted, all of it fueled by Trump and his MAGA sycophants.
Some day, all of this Trump/MAGA B.S. is going to catch up with them.