‘No kings then, no kings now.’ Lexington marchers call out Trump administration
On the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, which launched the Revolutionary War, a crowd of more than 1,000 people gathered in the Kentucky city named for that battle, chanting, “No kings then, no kings now.”
“Checks and balances are already gone,” Louis Knupp, of 50501 Kentucky, told protesters in Lexington’s downtown courthouse plaza Saturday. “Make no mistake. We are living through a true Constitutional crisis.”
Knupp said the current administration “has been making moves to consolidate power.”
“If one of us does not have due process, none of us do, and a land without due process is a land without laws,” he said.
At the time of the American Revolution, Knupp said, “they didn’t have the government on their side, and yet they resisted and they won.”
Speakers at Saturday’s rally and march touched on a number of issues of concern, including deportations, tariffs, the public education system, Medicaid cuts, LGBTQ rights and more.
Organizers estimated Saturday’s crowd, which filled the plaza in front of the Fayette District Court building, at 3,000 people.
After gathering in the plaza, the crowd split into two groups and marched through downtown. Cars passing by frequently honked in solidarity.
The protest was brought together by a coalition of organizations including 50501 Kentucky, the Bluegrass Activist Alliance, Gathering for Democracy, KY120 United — AFT, the Lexington-Fayette Chapter of the NAACP, Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance and Progress Kentucky.
The same coalition also brought together a “Hands Off” protest April 5.
“The groups and attendees are warning that the Trump Administration has behaved more like a monarchy than a democracy since reclaiming the executive office, with disregard for the rule of law, separation of powers and due process,” the groups said in an announcement before Saturday’s rally.
Booths were set up where attendees could register to vote and sign postcards asking 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr and Sen. Mitch McConnell to bring home Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man deported to El Salvador who the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to return.
“Defend our Constitution, our rule of law, and our democracy,” the cards urged.
“There is a remedy when one branch usurps their powers. That remedy is impeachment,” said Christina Trosper, a social studies teacher from Barbourville who is a member of KY120 United-AFT.
She asked those in attendance to reach out to their legislators to tell them “what they must do, not what you want them to do.”
Bob Hoeller, of Lexington, told the crowd that if the Trump administration can remove people, “the administration can facilitate their return ... and afford them the due process of law, which is constitutionally guaranteed.”
“I’ve never seen our democracy in such peril,” said Hoeller, who described himself as “a 73-year-old-plus Vietnam veteran.”
He said he sees Project 2025 as a playbook “written in order to destroy America.”
He appeared to grow teary-eyed as he spoke.
Angela Lee came from Casey County to attend the rally.
She said she’s not able to march, but “I certainly make myself heard on a daily basis.”
“I have been concerned since the first time that Trump became president,” Lee said. “I can’t believe what we find ourselves faced with. ...The people of this country will not stand to have the country taken away from them. I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as they think it is.”
Another demonstrator, Gretchen Grossardt, of Lexington, said she’s particularly concerned about reproductive freedoms.
If she could tell the president and his administration one thing, she said she’d tell them, “No one is above the law. This administration is ignoring the law.”
Grossardt said she’s been protesting since the Vietnam War.
“Until there are enough young people to replace the old ones doing this, I’m going to show up,” she said.
This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM.
