Thousands march at No Kings rally in downtown Lexington: ‘We are anti-fascists’
A festive atmosphere — bubbles, drums, honking cars, flags and costumed marchers — pervaded Lexington’s No Kings demonstration Saturday, as thousands of people turned out downtown to protest the Trump administration and its policies.
The crowd filled the courthouse plaza and later spread from one end to the other of a mile-long march route that went up Main Street and back down Vine Street.
They chanted, “We are anti-fascists,” and, “No kings, no tyrants. We will not be silenced.”
The event was one of 29 throughout the state and more than 2,500 across the country Saturday.
Harry Neack, co-leader of the Bluegrass Activist Alliance, which helped organize the event, said the joyous feel was intentional.
While the reason for the protest was a serious one, Neack said organizers also wanted it to be a happy time, “because some people feel isolated, and even some communities don’t feel safe to come out.”
He said the goal is to help everyone feel included while encouraging them to keep the momentum going when they head back home.
Ultimately, he said, the hope is that the Democrats can win back a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026, which, he said, “will help stop the authoritarianism that is happening.”
Neack said Kentucky, and Lexington in particular, is positioned to help with that, since the 6th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Andy Barr is up for grabs.
“We have to flip the 6th District,” he said. “Kentucky could make the difference nationally.”
The last nationwide No Kings protest day was June 14, Trump’s birthday and the same day the president staged a military parade in Washington, D.C.
Neack said Saturday’s rally in Lexington had an even larger turnout than the previous one.
“I am ecstatic,” he said, noting that a coalition of at least a dozen organizations had helped with the Lexington rally.
Many of the marchers wore inflatable costumes like those Portland protesters have donned to counter the president’s claims about the city’s safety.
Monica Rathke dressed in a green outfit and frog earrings intended as “an ode to the Portland frog.”
She said there were many issues that brought her out to the protest Saturday: “immigration, Epstein, military, things in Qatar, the tariffs, prices going up and not coming down.”
But she said she wanted to highlight one in particular. Rathke carried a long cardboard sign that repeated just two words painted again and again in multiple colors: “Epstein Files.”
“(Trump) keeps coming up with things to distract from the Epstein files,” she said. “Don’t forget the Epstein files.”
Three generations of Candy Brunk’s family came out, including her two grandsons, Andreu and Vincent.
The boys are homeschooled, and Saturday was a “lesson day,” a day for “teaching our latest generation how to stand up for our rights, and how we communicate peacefully with our government what’s important to us,” Brunk said.
And Brunk said she wants her grandsons to see that “we also need to stand up for those who are being persecuted.”
“What impacts ... one group within our country impacts all of us,” she said.
Former state Rep. Charles Booker told the crowd that “with every single day that passes, our rights are being eroded.”
“Our voices are being silenced. Our security is threatened. Our stories are being erased. Our communities are less safe,” he said.
“And let me make this very plain. Donald Trump is weaponizing the U.S. military on American cities. ... not because of crime. ...They are attacking regular people because he knows something powerful: that our towns, our cities, are the incubators of democracy.”
He encouraged the crowd to let Saturday’s rally “fill our tanks” so they could go out and work to protect democracy.
“We don’t have the luxury to sit down,” he said. “We will not be sold out, shut down, screwed over by politicians who don’t care if we live or die.”
Bishop Mark Van Koevering, of the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, told the crowd a wave of Christian nationalism that has spread across the country should be rejected.
“The Christian faith is not a tool for exclusion,” he said, “but a bridge to greater compassion ... and unity.”
Danny Morgan, who spoke during an open mic portion of the rally, said he’s worried about cuts to health research funding by the Trump administration.
Morgan said he’s been diagnosed with stage-four cancer.
“I’ve got it at bay right now because of previous research. That’s why I’m alive,” he said.
He said he’s worried the nation is heading toward a “one-party system.”
“We’ve got to vote,” he said.
