Thousands of protesters gathered at the State House Saturday afternoon to rally against the Trump administration — one of thousands of No Kings events staged across the country.
Sponsored by the R.I. Resistance Coalition and other community groups, Providence’s protest saw a turnout of 32,000, according to organizers.
A similar No Kings protest took place this summer, with Providence police estimating a crowd of about 3,000.
The Trump administration has “doubled down” on the president’s “authoritarian power grabs” since the initial protest, national organizers wrote on the No Kings website. In particular, they criticized the administration for “targeting immigrant families,” “rigging maps to silence voters” and “driving up the cost of living.”
Signs denouncing the Trump administration filled the streets as protestors trekked 1.4 miles across the city, before returning to the State House steps for a series of speeches.
Jesse Martin, one of the speakers at the rally and the executive vice president of labor union SEIU 1199 New England, slammed the recent uptick in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity as “an attack on workers across our country.” In the first seven months of Trump’s second presidency, ICE reported over 1,100 arrests from at least 40 worksite enforcement actions.
Martin also expressed frustration about the current state of American workers’ rights. “Too many of us are working 100-hour weeks for two or three jobs to survive,” he said. Americans “deserve an economy that builds a real future.”
Sen. Tiara Mack ’16 (D-Providence), another rally speaker, called for affordable healthcare for all Americans, citing the projected 114% increase in annual out-of-pocket premiums for the 24 million people who have health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
“It is our duty as Americans to fight for those struggling for health care in the richest country in the history of the world,” Mack said.
Activist group Jewish Voice for Peace R.I. separately organized a pro-Palestine rally at City Hall before joining the main march.
“The goal of this is to show that the demand for a free Palestine, the fight for Palestinian liberation, is essential to the fight against facism,” Zack Kligler ’20.5, an organizer with JVP R.I., told The Herald.
Ann Rheault, who attended the No Kings rally with her husband, noted that they are both “upset and dismayed” with the current administration.
“There’s not enough room for all the outrage every day,” she said.
Research Professor and Senior Fellow of International and Public Affairs Nick Zielger told The Herald that he is “concerned about the erosion of democracy.”
“It’s important to show the Washington politicians that there is widespread disagreement with what this administration is doing,” he added.
Audrey Gmerek ’28 said she attended the demonstration to protest “what’s happening to our country in terms of ICE deportations and authoritarianism.”
She also said she approved of Brown’s decision to reject Trump’s “Compact for Educational Excellence in Higher Education” that looked to regulate international student enrollment and impose restrictions on political speech, among other stipulations. “We’re resisting this fascism,” Gmerek said.
“I want to build a country based on equity and justice,” said Lev Poplow, the lead organizer of Indivisible R.I. — one of several community groups part of the R.I. Resistance Coalition.
“As I looked out on that crowd today, it felt to me like a lot of them were ready to take action,” Poplow added. “And that got me really excited.”
Michelle Bi is a sophomore and metro section editor at The Herald.
Megan is a metro editor covering health and environment. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she spends her free time drinking coffee and wishing she was Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron movie.
