Lexington’s ‘No Kings’ demonstration: How to turn a protest into a party | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Thousands gathered at Lexington’s 'No Kings' protest to oppose authoritarianism.
- Demonstrators used peaceful tactics, including flowers and chants, to show unity.
- Protesters expressed concern over immigration raids and federal use of military force.
By the time the “No Kings” protest got started in Lexington’s courthouse square at midday on Saturday, thousands of people had already gathered under stormy skies, ready to rant against authoritarianism, ICE, immigration raids, oligarchy, and most of all, Donald Trump himself.
They stood in the rain as former poet laureate and novelist Silas House reviled Trump and his “bootlickers” as more interested in personal gain than national unity.
“It’s really moving to see so many of you here today because I know that you’re here because you believe in democracy,” he said. “You are here because you love your country, because we know this country was founded to reject oligarchy.
“Yet in Washington, D.C., right now, the streets are being pummeled by tanks because of one man’s fragile ego.”
Lorie Morrison of Lexington said she couldn’t begin to list all the reasons she showed up.
“I’m anti-Trump, anti-fascist, anti-Nazi,” she said. “I can’t stand anything he’s doing. Sending the Marines against peaceful protesters in L.A., are you kidding me?”
Even in the rain, Morrison was joined by what looked like many more protesters than the last anti-Trump demonstration in Lexington in April, carrying signs, chanting “no kings!” and lining North Limestone, Short and Main Street.
Then, as the sun started to peek out, the speeches ended and crowds started to flow down to Main Street, where they lined the sidewalks from South Upper to MLK, in what turned into a kind of celebration, a cacophony of honking cars, waving American flags, solidarity, and smiles.
Marianna McDonald held a sign that said “Stop This Nazi S---” in one hand and a bouquet of wildflowers in the other, a nod to the famous photograph from Vietnam protests in the 1960s where protesters placed flowers in soldiers’ guns.
“I’ve been giving them to police,” she said. “They were so sweet.”
In contrast to the violent images of protesters and National Guardsmen in Los Angeles, the only Lexington police to be seen on Saturday were the bike patrols. While I’m sure there were plenty of police on hand, city officials clearly remembered how inflammatory the sight of cops in riot gear was during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
“No Kings” was full of old people, young people, and everyone in between. Chaiya Raskin is about to start at the University of Kentucky; she showed up because, “I think what Donald Trump is doing is beyond disgusting. He should not be sending the National Guard and the military against our citizens.”
Cecilia Castro and Tracie Dreyer-Hanes blew bubbles into Short Street traffic that sparkled in the sun. Castro carried a sign that read “The most violent element in society is ignorance.”
Castro is a Mexican immigrant who came here when she was 7 and now teaches English as a Second Language in the public schools. She’s despaired over Trump’s immigration raids that are disappearing legal residents of this country.
“This isn’t the country I was promised as a child,” Castro said. “But protests like this give me a lot of hope. It’s makes me feel like I’m not alone.”
Down on Main Street, drummers walked the sidewalks, accompanying the constant chants, such as, “No fear, no hate, we don’t want a fascist state!”
Celeste Roberts of Richmond came dressed as Lady Liberty, complete with a torch.
“I just want justice and freedom for all,” she said. The crowd’s size didn’t surprise her, but she was impressed.
“It makes it OK for people to wear their hearts on the outside.”
Tamareion Davis just graduated from Bryan Station High School and is headed to college in the fall.
“I just wanted to show support against what’s happening in America,” he said. “We’re going backwards. This kind of support can change a lot.”
Haiti Galvan had draped herself in a Mexican flag; she’s half Mexican and half Honduran. She also carried a sign that said, “If you’re not resisting, you’re assisting.”
“I want people to know what they did in voting for this president,” she said. “Y’all can’t defeat us... we feed you.”
Rev. Brian Chenoweth, an organizer who serves in the Unitarian Universalist Church, said he believes the crowd was bigger than April’s protest because people want to change the narrative of what is happening in this country.
On the day of the protest, for example, a Democratic state representative and her husband were shot in Minnesota by someone dressed as a policeman.
“People really need hope,” he said. “This time in our country is designed to make us exhausted, hopeless and ready to give up. This reminds us we can’t give up.
“Autocracies only happen when we let them.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 4:46 PM.
