‘No Kings’: Thousands Pack Uptown to Push Back Against Trump

A crowd of more than 5,000 people packed First Ward Park in Uptown on Saturday to protest what organizers called authoritarian, corrupt and militaristic practices by the Trump administration. 

Noting that Trump, his cabinet members and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have defied US courts, deported Americans, kidnapped people off the streets, attacked civil rights and slashed vital services, speakers characterized the president’s actions as the illegal overreach of a would-be king or dictator.

The event was one of thousands of No Kings protests held across the country, organized as an answer to Trump’s $45-million military parade held on the same day to ostensibly celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army, though it was also Trump’s 79th birthday. 

CMPD’s presence was minimal throughout the rally at First Ward Park, organized by Indivisible Charlotte in coordination with local progressive groups, and the march through Uptown that followed, with officers blocking off routes on foot, bicycles and dirt bikes. 

The crowd stretched throughout much of the 1.3-mile route, which moved southwest on Caldwell Street, northwest on 4th Street and northeast on Tryon Street before turning southwest down 7th Street in circling back to First Ward Park. 

Most of the crowd dispersed after the march concluded at 2 p.m., though a small group of protesters continued to march through Uptown, resulting in a few tense confrontations with police, as captured here by WBTV’s Naomi Knowles. 

A standoff also occurred between police and some remaining protesters who wished to continue marching up East 7th Street after the official march had ended, with bicycle police not allowing marchers to pass the light rail tracks outside of First Ward Park. 

CMPD deployed pepper spray and arrested two people, whom they charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer. Another person was sent to the hospital to be treated for spray exposure. The protesters who remained after 2 p.m. and engaged with police were not affiliated with the organizers of the original rally and march. 

Charlotte speakers call out authoritarian moves by Trump and his allies

At the rally preceding the march, speakers took to a stage that had been built in the park for the occasion, addressing throngs of protestors holding signs with slogans like, “If this was really about criminals, then why is one president?,” “A tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people,” “When cruelty becomes normal, compassion looks radical,” “Imagine fleeing for your life and being called illegal,” and more.

“You are the powerful American majority! We will not be silenced! We will not be ruled!” proclaimed Carolyn Everly, founding director of Indivisible Charlotte, opening the rally.

The crowd responded with the chant, “No crown, no throne, no king!”

To drive the point home, one protestor who was garbed in a crown, flesh-toned body stocking and robe, appeared onstage as the fabled “emperor with no clothes” from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

Before passing the mic to the event’s MC, comedian and Stop Cop City Charlotte activist Kaya Allyn, Everly reminded protesters that neither signs nor chants should incite violence or portray swastikas and that it was up to the protesters to deescalate any potential confrontations with counter-protestors. This reporter saw no counter-protestors throughout the rally or march.

Participants were encouraged to carry American flags, which were available in the park, along with water, snacks and pre-made signs.

Allyn reminded attendees of the construction of a “cop city,” a law enforcement and first responder training facility, planned for development in property surrounding Central Piedmont Community College’s (CPCC) Levine campus in Matthews, as reported by Queen City Nerve in March.

“If you want to abolish ICE [and] abolish [the Department of Homeland Security] being in our community, start with that project,” said Allyn, prior to hurling comic barbs at Trump that highlighted his narcissism, the recent public “break up” with Elon Musk, and his close ties to notorious sex procurer for the powerful, Jeffrey Epstein.

“We are here to mock a man who has redefined leadership by tweeting from a toilet in all caps,” Allyn said. She noted the administration’s misuse of tax dollars and tariffs, emphasizing that corporations and Trump’s billionaire benefactors are the real beneficiaries of his policies.

Lawmakers and labor leaders address the crowd

The next speaker, NC Rep. Jordan Lopez (House District 112) highlighted the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid programs and SNAP benefits, which are adversely impacting millions of North Carolinians. Lopez also criticized Trump and the Republicans’ attempts to blame immigrants for societal issues.

“The problems that we face today, they’re caused by corporations,” Lopez said. “They’re caused by Republican policies that place profits over people, that place self-preservation over democracy.

“When our legislature gets to hand pick their voters, that’s [NC House] Speaker [Destin] Hall [and] Senate Leader Pro Tem Phil Berger, acting like kings,” said Lopez, excoriating state Republicans’ rampant gerrymandering.

US Air Force veteran and local middle school teacher Wesley Fryer followed, criticizing the Trump administration’s disregard for due process and the Constitution. 

“A lot of us back in the day watched ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’” Fryer said, referencing a cartoon series that taught children civics. “That simple cartoon taught so many of us how our government is supposed to work. A bill gets introduced, it gets debated, it gets passed by Congress and signed by the President. But what happens when a president decides he’s above all that? What happens when the Constitution is treated like an obstacle rather than a guide.”

Jen Mangrum, organizing director for NC’s American Federation of Teachers (AFT), called out Trump’s whitewashing and erasure of history, and Republicans’ attempts to defund public schools and promote vouchers for the wealthy.

“I began teaching in 1987 and I can tell you that North Carolina was once a model for strong public education,” Mangrum said. “Now … our universities must create and require history courses that tell ‘both sides.’ Whatever the heck that is.”

Mangrum further criticized national and state Republicans for eliminating faculty positions that help vulnerable students, removing DEI concepts from lectures and school syllabi and banning the use of words like “gender,” “racial discrimination” and even “women.”

In a fiery speech, Marcelle Vielot with the Charlotte Metrolina Labor Council/AFL-CIO emphasized the crucial role of labor in society, asserting that the city, county, state and country are all dependent on working families. 

Vielot said that without the crucial contributions that labor and working families bring to society, nothing would work and progress would simply grind to a halt.

“As we proclaim … ‘No kings,’ we must also proclaim that … nothing in this land moves without us, [and] that the twisted dreams of the oligarchs and the naked emperors will remain just that,” Vielot concluded.

Speaking out against ICE

The last two speakers addressed the Trump administration’s brutal and racist targeting of Charlotte’s migrants and immigrants by way of ICE. 

Stefania Arteaga, co-founder of Carolina Migrant Network, a legal and advocacy organization that works with immigrants undergoing deportation proceedings or locked in detention centers and their families, addressed the crowd in Spanish before switching to English.

“I am proudly Salvadoran, but that does not mean I support the dictator Bukele in El Salvador,” Arteaga said, referencing Trump and ICE’s staunch ally in imprisoning American citizens and immigrants without the benefit of due process.

“I am proud to … fight back against tyrannical policies under various administrations, and I am pissed,” Arteaga said. “I am pissed because we are seeing families ripped apart. We are seeing children call our ICE hotlines because they’re scared that their parents aren’t going to come home.”

Read more: Advocates Speak Against Recent ICE Actions in Charlotte

Arteaga told demonstrators that state lawmakers have fast-tracked two anti-immigrant bills, HB 318 and SB 153, through the Republican controlled General Assembly and have sent them to Governor Stein’s desk to sign into law.

“These bills would make it so state and local law enforcement become an extension of ICE,” Artega said, urging the crowd to send a clear message to Stein to veto both bills.

Hector Vaca, Charlotte director of Action NC, concluded the program of speeches, reminding the crowd that under US law being in this country without documentation is not a criminal offense.

“It is an administrative offense, like a billionaire not paying their taxes,” Vaca said, “Immigrants are our neighbors. They’re our family members. Hell, they’re even the wives of our dictator-in-chief and his subordinates. And still, this regime has chosen to demonize them.”

Vaca told of horrid conditions in the jails holding ICE detainees, told to him by Joanna Martinez Lua, who had been scheduled to speak at the rally but could not attend.

“[Lua] told me about a [detained] gentleman who was screaming and crying because he was about to die in a cell with 100 people and only 70 beds,” Vaca said. “And the ICE agents only kept laughing. After he died, they finally came in … and they’re trying to rule it as a suicide.”

Vaca warned the crowd about proposed federal legislation including HR 32, which targets any city that welcomes immigrants and allows Trump to take away vital services like domestic violence shelters, health care services, school lunch programs and more. 

He also condemned HR 22, the so-called SAVE Act, which would cause eligible US citizens, including married women, to lose their right to vote.

“The good news is that citizens can stop these authoritarian actions by fighting back and protesting,” Vaca told the crowd. “We must resist. The resistance is contagious if we commit to spreading it. Our voices will be heard.” 

A protest to rain on Trump’s parade

The No Kings demonstration and march was one of over 2,000 similar events held in cities and towns across all 50 states. Alt National Parks Service, a national self-described “resistance” team, estimated the crowd of people who joined in protests nationwide to be 12.1 million. 

Local No Kings organizers told WSOC-TV that the crowd at First Ward Park was closer to 10,000 than the 5,500 estimated by CMPD.

“No Kings is expected to be the largest single-day mobilization since President Trump returned to office — a mass, nationwide protest rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics and the militarization of our democracy,” said No Kings on its website prior to the event.

National media outlets have reported that the nationwide protests drew huge, boisterous crowds in cities including New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, as well as many smaller towns. 

In addition to the Charlotte event, protests and marches were staged in surrounding areas including Waxhaw, Albemarle, Mooresville, Newton, Monroe, Concord, Lenoir, Wadesboro, Shelby, Rock Hill, Salisbury and Statesville.

Meanwhile, Trump’s counter programming, a military parade honoring himself, has been called underwhelming, lame, an under-attended gross failure and a history lesson on hubris. 

March draws participants ranging across races and ages

The No Kings rally and march drew a predominantly white crowd, though plenty of Latino and Black protestors were in attendance.

Marching with the crowd, queer couple said they attended No Kings to speak up for those with more to lose than them.

“With the wrongs that are being done in our society, in our communities, it’s important to show up,” O’Neil said.

“It’s really hard on social media to really get a sense of how many people have [your] same ideals, opinions and morals, but being in public and in person — it gives you a feeling of camaraderie,” Frantz said.

Holding a sign that said, “Free Palestine. Fuck Trump. Fuck ICE. Fuck Elon,” Maddy, who requested that her last name be withheld, said, “I hope people that aren’t here today realize why people are so angry.

“I hope that they realize that [if] one person’s voice is silenced, once it comes for you to be oppressed, no one will speak up for you,” she continued. 

After standing in the sun for some time at First Ward Park, 70-year-old Harold Carrillo found some refuge in the shade as he told Queen City Nerve how the event reminded him of similar rallies and marches he took part in during the civil rights era.

“I would like [No Kings] to galvanize people and make them aware of the danger zone that we’re in and that everybody can do something,” Carillo said.

“We have things going on at the national and state level that are unconstitutional, that are eroding our rights as citizens and residents, and people in Charlotte are very upset,” said former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, holding a circular sign reading, “Free speech. Use it.”

“What is going on in the White House is illegal; It’s unconstitutional,” Roberts continued. “We have to show that people are not going to stand for it. The government has to rule with the consent of the governed.”

As the march wound down, Jamila Lindsay sat on a stone bench with a few friends. She held a sign that read, “No kings, No Crowns, Just People.”

“We are the United States of America,” Lindsay said. “It is not a dictatorship; it’s not someone leading from the top with no regard for the people. We are the people; we make this country.”

With a successful, well-attended and primarily peaceful event under its belt, Indivisible Charlotte is urging people to sign up for another event, Citizen Ally Training with Carolina Migrant Network scheduled for Wednesday, June 18.

“Join staff from Carolina Migrant Network for this training to equip yourself with the tools and knowledge to support our neighbors during ICE enforcement actions,” Indivisible Charlotte’s website says. 

This training is designed to teach volunteers observation methods and documentation standards, which will help them verify and respond to ICE activity.