On Saturday, Oct. 18, 7 million people showed up to more than 2,500 “No Kings” protests across the country. Locally, thousands gathered at demonstrations in Ocean City, Atlantic City, Cape May Court House and Galloway Township.
In Atlantic City, about 1,000 people marched along the Boardwalk from Missouri Avenue to Albany Avenue before gathering for a rally at O’Donnell Park.
Alice Carcilli, an organizer and group leader for Indivisible Atlantic City, said the majority of the reactions were “very positive,” with “only a few naysayers.”
Protesters held signs that said, “No Kings. Only one joker,” “Not a paid protester (genuinely this pissed off)” and “This is what loving America looks like,” among various others.
Amid a sea of signs and chants, demonstrators also donned various costumes. One wore a monarch butterfly cape with a sign that said, “America’s only orange monarch,” another dressed as a chicken and bore a sign that read, “Why did the chicken cross the road? To protest fascism.” Another picketer had a taco costume on and held a sign that said, “Jesus loves everyone — why don’t you?”
A common costume found throughout rallies nationally is the frog, which became a symbol after a video showed federal officers pepper-spraying a person in a frog costume in Portland, Oregon.
Attendees nationwide were encouraged to dress up to keep the mood light and counter negative narratives.
“Protesting is one of the foundations of our democracy, and there is nothing un-American about our protest,” Carcilli said. “While Trump might not technically be a king, the way in which they’re using tax dollars and public money to deploy federal forces to these local police departments and fund mass detention deportation operations while cutting services that working families rely on every single day — It’s been very authoritarian without congressional oversight. And I think that’s what everybody was there to protest.”
In Ocean City, over 1,000 demonstrators lined the Ninth Street Bridge to protest Donald Trump’s presidency. Beginning at 10 a.m., picketers lined along the island’s main entryway, expanding from Bay Avenue to the halfway point of the Route 52 Causeway bridge’s pedestrian walkway.
“No Kings Since 1776,” “No Kings No Dictators,” “Veto the Cheeto,” were among the variety of signs held by community members.
Like Atlantic City’s protest — and others across the country — there were inflatable costumes: an American eagle, a dinosaur, a unicorn, a banana and an inflatable shark with a sign that read, “I eat royalty for lunch! Got any kings you can toss my way?”
Ocean City resident Marya Parral was in attendance and said the protest was “super friendly” and “upbeat.” She said the cars passing by seemed supportive overall, with drivers honking, clapping or giving a thumbs-up.
Parral said there were also about a dozen counterprotestors set up across from the demonstrators, who remained peaceful.
“[Protesting] gives me energy to keep persevering with any kind of hope for our country, because it feels like there are a lot of times where you feel like you don’t really have any reason but to despair lately,” Parral said. “But when I can go to one of these protests, it reminds me of how many people are out there that feel the same as I do.”
She said that the ideal outcome of the rallies would be “to get politicians to start passing laws and creating policies that are more consistent with what people really want.”
