Thousands gather peacefully across Triangle for anti-Trump, ‘No Kings’ protests
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- Thousands gather in Cary, Clayton and Raleigh for 'No Kings' protests.
- Organizers and Indivisible distributed yellow shirts to signal peaceful resistance.
- Protesters cite immigration, science attacks and administration lies as motives.
Across the Triangle, North Carolinians joined millions of protesters across the world opposing the Trump administration’s “authoritarian policies.”
“Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” was a chant used by protesters in Raleigh and Cary.
Demonstrators dressed in colorful costumes and held creative signs expressing their views about the direction the government is being led.
Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies spread into Washington, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and into hundreds of cities across the U.S. They also took place in France, Switzerland and England.
Nine rallies were held in the Triangle, drawing thousands of people. No incidents or arrests were reported at any of the North Carolina protests. There were no noticeable counterprotests on the streets around the Triangle.
Trump supporters did comment on social media, including North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican from Southern Pines, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee.
“Imagine hating America so much you skip College Football on a fall Saturday,” Hudson wrote, taking a cue from Republican talking points over the last several days that labeled the protests the “Hate America Rally.”
Protesters offered various reasons for coming out Saturday including policies on immigration, environmental protections, health care and not giving enough attention to mass shootings.
“I’m out here because I want to reclaim patriotism for what’s right in this country,” said Liz Skube, who joined the protest in Raleigh. “I’m also out here for all of the people who are lost and think Trump represents Christ.”
Here are scenes from around the area:
Raleigh
Thousands of protesters gathered along Capitol Boulevard near Triangle Town Center.
People dressed in inflatable costumes that included pufferfish, unicorns, hippos and dinosaurs.
Phoenix Rector, the director of operations for a real estate group, wore an inflatable frog suit with a blue scarf.
She said the costume was to show solidarity with protesters who dressed similarly in Portland while demonstrating outside an ICE facility.
“This is not a war zone,” Rector said. “Portland is not a war zone. Chicago is not a war zone. And so this helps put it in the face of those who want to claim [they are] as nonsense.”
Woody Setzer, a retired employee of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development, with 30 years experience, was among the crowd.
The division’s work was used as the basis for agency regulatory rules. But it was shuttered by the Trump administration which claimed that it was wasting government money.
“Well, yeah, it’s wasteful if you think that people should just be able to dump crap in the water or the air all they want,” Setzer told The N&O during Saturday’s protest in Raleigh.
Setzer became active in politics when the science behind climate change became under scrutiny.
Beyond the current administration’s rollbacks on federal workers — like the EPA’s research department — Setzer said the system is skewed.
“This government is very much opposed to setting things up to support ordinary people or poor people,” he said. “This government is set up with a belief that only rich people matter.”
Michael Williams, a Raleigh-based Realtor and Army veteran who served from 1995 to 1999, held an “LGBTQ+ Veterans against Trump” sign.
Williams said he “made the mistake” of turning on the TV at 3 a.m. on election night and saw Trump had won. From there, Williams said he shut down and didn’t tap back into the news until the first No Kings protests in June.
He was encouraged by Saturday’s turnout, thinking it shows the current administration the support the other side has.
“We all need to know that we are not alone in these struggles,” Williams said. “We are not alone in the world dealing with whatever the repercussions are coming from this administration.”
Williams said his biggest issue with the Trump administration is how masked ICE agents detain suspected undocumented immigrants. Williams compared it to the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police.
“That’s not America,” Williams said. “That’s not what I’ve served in the military to protect.”
Durham
Durham’s protesters shut down streets as they marched into downtown from Central Park, where the rally began with a protest version of Chappelle Roan’s “Hot To Go.”
Speakers at the Durham rally included Rev. William Barber, a civil rights activist and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign; and Braxton Winston, a former member of the Charlotte City Council and a 2024 Labor Commissioner candidate.
“This is a class solidarity struggle,” said Winston, now president of the NC AFL-CIO.
Cassie Little, a Navy veteran, drove from Creedmoor to Durham to stand up for her freedom of speech.
“I gotta fight this fascism,” she said. “I’m a Navy veteran. I didn’t take an oath to a king. I took an oath to the Constitution.”
Among her chief concerns are attacks on the LGBTQ community.
“I’m a gay veteran,” Little said, “and I have transgender in my family, and they are afraid.”
Erin Wallace, of Durham, was in the crowd with her brother, Andrew.
“I have a child, and I want this country to be better for her, and I know people who are actually in the process of leaving the country, and it’s scary, and I’m trying to make this place better, so that there’s something for people to actually live for,” Wallace said.
Cary
Protesters in Cary didn’t wait for their designated start time to start lining both sides of Kildaire Farm Road between Kilmayne Drive and Maynard Road. Event organizers estimated around 4,000 people showed up, overflowing down sidestreets and standing several rows deep.
“So many people are interested in saving our democracy,” said Martha Glass, of Cary Indivisible.
Other members of Cary Indivisible, which helped organize the protest, passed out yellow shirts, which they said is the color used for generations to symbolize peaceful resistance against oppression.
“No hate, no fear,” protesters chanted. “Immigrants are welcome here.”
Rev. Candy Snively, of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cary, noted that the United States is built on diversity and said she was concerned about Trump’s efforts “to purify our nation.”
It was concerns about changes Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that brought out Laurie Sorge, a retired biochemist, and her husband, John Sorge, a retired physician.
“We feel like our democracy is greatly at threat, that Congress has relinquished control of tariffs and financial decisions to the executive branch,” Laurie Sorge said.
Pat Reese, a retired researcher who collected data for clinical trials, was also in the crowd.
She said she was protesting for several reasons including the decimation of scientists, the failing justice department and her opposition to the actions of ICE.
“I think our country is in jeopardy, and it’s important for us to speak out,” Reese said. “Democracy is fragile if you don’t protect it,” she said.
Clayton
Hundreds of people in Clayton marched from the town square down Main Street.
Tammy Powell, a Garner resident, held a sign reading: “Ugh, where do I start,” surrounded by a list of her complaints about Trump and his administration. Among them were immigration policies, weaponizing the Department of Justice, renaming the Gulf of Mexico and withholding the Epstein files.
Republicans call protests a ‘hate America rally’
Congressional Republicans and members of the Trump administration have been dismissive of the No Kings protests. Several, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, called it a “hate America rally.”
“Let’s see who shows up for that,” Johnson said on Fox News. “I’ll bet you see pro-Hamas supporters, I’ll bet you see the antifa types, I’ll bet you see the Marxists in full display — the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
News & Observer reporters Nathan Collins, Twumasi Duah-Mensah, Brian Gordon, David Raynor and Renee Umsted contributed to this story.
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM.