Aurora’s 1,800-strong ‘No Kings’ protest joins national anti-Trump wave — photos and videos

AURORA | What turned out to be clearly the largest of the three No Kings protests in Aurora drew about 1,800 people out to endless cheers and honking horns of passers by in southwest Aurora.

The protest was one of about 70 planned across the state as part of a national protest expected to draw millions to register a catalog of criticisms about President Donald Trump, his administration and the so-called MAGA movement.

“There’s no difference what Trump and his regime are doing than what the Nazis did in Germany and Europe when they came to power,” said Aurora resident Katy Groth. “We can’t just look away from all this.”

Aurora has been a consistently active site for No Kings and other anti-Trump and anti-MAGA protests since even before Trump was re-elected in 2024.

The corner of South Havana Street and Parker Road was packed with protesters Saturday with passers by honking and loudly cheering the boisterous group of mostly senior protesters.

Among the chanting and gray-hair protesters was 91-year-old Jane Outing of Aurora. This has been her second No Kings protest in Aurora. She joing the smaller crowd of about 1,000 protesters in October.

“She’s just like everyone else here,” her daughter Anastasia Harris said. “We have to do something to get the rest of the country to see how we’ve put so much at risk with Trump in the White House. It’s never been this dangerous.”

Protests expanded this year to southeast Aurora at the intersection of East Quincy Avenue and Copperleaf Boulevard.

Some of the dozens of people that trickled into the protest lines after noon had been at that and a protest in Centennial earlier and said the groups there were just as energized and boisterous.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for a protest at the State Capitol, local media reported. Communities across the state and even in Republican strongholds like Highlands Ranch in Douglas County reported sizeable protests.

Political watchers say the movement shows an evolution of politics in suburbs like Aurora.

A growing faction of concerned citizens living in suburban communities across the United States — places once known for political moderation or even conservatism — are increasingly positioned on the front lines of the anti-Trump resistance. More than a year into the Republican president’s second term, the so-called “soccer moms” are becoming bona fide activists taking to their well-manicured streets to fight Trump and his allies.

The leftward lurch could cost Republicans control of Congress for the president’s final two years in office. It could also reshape the Democratic Party by elevating a fresh crop of fiery progressive candidates emboldened to push back against the Trump administration more aggressively than the establishment may prefer.

U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. They expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was not clear whether those expectations were met.

Organizers said more than 3,100 events — 500 more than in October — were registered, in all 50 states.

Protests were mostly peaceful, but some arrests were reported.

In Los Angeles, authorities deployed tear gas near a federal detention center downtown. One man had a leaf blower, attempting to clear the air. The Los Angeles Police Department later arrested people for failing to disperse. Earlier in the day, a band was playing and people were dancing to Spanish-language music.

The Denver Police Department said on the social platform X that it declared an unlawful assembly and deployed smoke canisters after a small group of protesters blocked a road and did not leave as asked. Some threw the canisters back at officers, police said. At least eight people were arrested, as was a ninth person later on who police said was throwing objects.

GOP officials dismissive of protests

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called them the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support.

The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” Jackson said in a statement.

The National Republican Congressional Committee was also sharply critical.

“These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone,” spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said.

Protesters have a long list of causes

Trump’s immigration enforcement push, particularly in Minnesota, was just one item on a long list of grievances that also included the war in Iran and the rollback of transgender rights. Speakers at the Minnesota rally decried billionaires’ economic power.

In Washington, hundreds marched past the Lincoln Memorial and into the National Mall, holding signs that read “Put down the crown, clown” and “Regime change begins at home.” ”

Bill Jarcho was there from Seattle, joined by six people dressed as insects wearing tactical vests that said, “LICE” — spoofing ICE — as part of what he called a “mock and awe” tour.

“What we provide is mockery to the king,” Jarcho said. “It’s about taking authoritarianism and making fun of it, which they hate.”

About 40,000 people marched in San Diego, police there said.

In New York, Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said during a news conference that Trump and his supporters want people to be afraid to protest.

“They want us to be afraid that there’s nothing we can do to stop them,” she said. “But you know what? They are wrong — dead wrong.”

In Topeka, Kansas, a protesters dressed up in an inflatable frog costume and a baby version of Trump. Wendy Wyatt showed up with a “Cats Against Trump” sign. Many things upset her about the administration, she said, but the rallies are “very hopeful to me.”

Organizers said two-thirds of RSVPs for the rallies came from outside of major urban centers. That included communities in conservative-leaning states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota and Louisiana, as well as suburbs in electorally competitive Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.