At the Ohio Statehouse, demonstrators filled the front lawn and nearby streets in what organizers called the largest “No Kings” protest to date.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered across the United States on Saturday for coordinated “No Kings” rallies, protesting President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.
More than 2,000 protests were planned from coast to coast, coinciding with increased arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration.
In central Ohio, protesters assembled in New Albany and surrounding communities. At the Ohio Statehouse, more than 1,000 demonstrators filled the front lawn and nearby streets in what organizers called the largest “No Kings” protest to date.
The crowd chanted and held signs in solidarity, voicing concerns about the future of the country.
“I’m deeply concerned for the future of the country,” one protester said.
Another added, “We are making a statement all over the country.”
Many participants opposed the president’s deployment of federal agents to bolster immigration enforcement, rejecting claims that the move was intended to fight crime.
“Any type of military force against our own people on American soil is an asinine thing that nobody would have ever thought would have happened,” a demonstrator said.
Others criticized proposed cuts to federal funding.
“You can’t just blindly go in and cut funding and throw these programs away that may be able to help millions of people,” one attendee said.
While protests unfolded nationwide, Republican lawmakers pushed back,
“We refer to it by its more accurate description: the ‘Hate America’ rally,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a press conference Friday. “You’re going to bring together the Marxists, the socialists, the Antifa advocates and anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing, the far left of the Democratic Party. That is the modern Democratic Party.”
The demonstrations come amid a nearly three-week government shutdown, which protesters say is putting Americans at risk.
“We have to come together to help the citizens of this country — to help me and you and everybody and the most people that we can and the best way that we can,” one protester said. “We can’t be one side against the other.”
