Crowds flood downtown Birmingham during ‘No Kings Day’ protest
Angelica McCain, who organized the event with Birmingham Indivisible, speaks to the crowd of protesters.
Crowds stretched across multiple city blocks through downtown Birmingham on Saturday evening to protest President Donald Trump. It was part of a day of protests around the country dubbed “No Kings Day”.
“The people united will never be divided,” protesters chanted. The crowd channeled singer Chappell Roan at one point.
“H-O-T-T-O-G-O, Donald Trump has got to go!” protesters sang.
“I’m here because the United States is quickly descending and has made it into fascism and we will not stand for that,” protester Jordan Price said.
Some participants waved American flags, others wore the flag. Many protesters wore t-shirts mocking Trump. A few donned colonial garb. Many signs emphasized that “no kings” theme of the day. Some signs were painted with crossed out crowns. One read, “1776 called and it wants its tyrant back.”
“No Kings!” Angelica McCain with Birmingham Indivisible called out across the crowd. She was met with cheering. “We the people of Alabama do not bow down to any king. We do not!”
Birmingham Indivisible co-organized the peaceful event with 50501, a grassroots, progressive political group founded to oppose Trump administration policies.
Melba Holloway said she showed up because she disagrees with Trump’s immigration policies.
“If Christians were actually living as Christians, we’d follow the red words that Jesus spoke,” Holloway said. “It has nothing to do with hate, turning away people, rounding people up, arresting them, getting rid of them, turning away those who don’t have as much as we do. We all matter. That’s why I’m here.”
Others, such as Simona Shirley, said Trump is exceeding his power.
“I’m here basically because my mom grew up in communism and fascism basically,” Shirley said. “And she told me that this is actually reminding her a lot of what she saw and experienced back then. And I really don’t want to experience that.”
Many marchers expressed concern over federal funding cuts to science and medical research, attacks on the LGBTQ plus community through anti-transgender executive orders and other Trump policies.
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