Alabama’s second round of “No Kings” protests against the policies and rhetoric of the Trump administration drew together thousands of demonstrators from across the state on Saturday.
The demonstrations organized by the 50501 Movement, a nationwide grassroots coalition of organizers against Trump administration policies, were held across 15 Alabama cities. Over 2,700 “No Kings” events were scheduled for October 18 nationwide.
The protests followed 50501’s first round of demonstrations, which were held in June in over 1,500 cities nationwide, including 14 in Alabama.
Demonstrators made their voices heard with signs and chants in opposition to what they described as authoritarian tendencies of the Trump administration.
Many protestors appeared at the events in costume, including both homemade outfits and inflatable animal suits, inspired by viral online videos documenting recent demonstrations at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland.
Protests in Huntsville and Birmingham are estimated to have seen attendance in the thousands.
No Kings protests in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo courtesy Birmingham Indivisible)
The Huntsville “No Kings” demonstration, entitled “No Kings! No Quacks!” was located along Governors Drive in the city’s medical district.
Protestors at the event emphasized their opposition to cuts to medical research funding proposed by the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget, as well as several stances taken by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the planned expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced Premium Tax Credits.
“RFK Jr. and the Guardians Of Pedophiles keeping the government shutdown are Quacks! RFK Jr. makes false claims about autism, motherhood, and vaccines with no medical knowledge or expertise. He is destroying all confidence in medical science,” organizers wrote before the event.
“The GOP is looking to cut the Affordable Care Act that will skyrocket your healthcare costs! They are hoping to further exploit the American people for the financial gain of their billionaire puppeteers,” they added.
Alongside Trump administration medical policies, several demonstrators in Huntsville voiced their disapproval of the administration’s attitudes toward LGBTQ+ Americans, as well as expedited deportations and raids conducted by ICE, and comments made by Trump administration adviser Stephen Miller, who said in May that the administration is considering ways to end due process protections for undocumented immigrants.
Amy Price, a Huntsville organizer with the 50501 Movement and grassroots advocacy organization Alabama Indivisible, expressed happiness with the event’s turnout. She highlighted the variety of issues that drew demonstrators to the rally, including concern regarding due process protections and threats to medical research funding.
“People are deeply concerned about where our government has gone and the amount of overreach it’s had, and the trampling of the Constitution, and the fact that our representatives don’t listen to us when we ask them to consider free speech and due process,” Price said.
Price also emphasized the heavy involvement of Huntsville’s medical community in the demonstration.
“There were so many retired medical professionals and medical professionals, professors—we really did have the science community show up,” she said.
“We were really focused on standing up for science and research,” Price said. “We wanted to have it on Governors, because it’s where research and science are, and we’re losing that funding, and we’ve lost the support for that, and we have, you know, messaging coming from the administration that is really anti-research and science. They realize this is the place where that touches most people’s lives, right?”
Huntsville demonstrators also took aim at recent comments made by U.S. Representative Dale Strong, R-Alabama, who criticized the demonstrations as unpatriotic.
“Today’s so-called ‘No Kings’ protest in D.C. is another example of liberals’ misplaced priorities,” Strong wrote in a Saturday post on X. “Democrats are fine to let the Capitol Police stand watch over what is really just a ‘Hate America Rally,’ but refuse to ensure those same officers get paid on time.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, similar to Strong, described “No Kings” demonstrations as “hate America” rallies, drawing the ire of protestors.
Huntsville protestors brandished signs showing their opposition to criticisms condemning the rallies as unpatriotic, including signs which read, “I’m Proud of My Country But Ashamed of My Government,” “We Love America We Just Hate Fascism,” alongside “Dale Strong is a Big Chicken” and “Dale Strong Please Grow a Spine!”
Several protestors also appeared in opposition to the Trump administration’s revocation of funding for the United States Agency for International Development and the Public Broadcasting Administration, alongside alleged comments made by Trump in 2018 in which the president referred to dead veterans as “suckers and losers.”
Trump has repeatedly denied the comments; however, they were corroborated by former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelley.
“I’m A Veteran. Not A Sucker Or A Loser,” and “No Kings For This Grumpy Old Soldier,” read other signs at the event.
Birmingham’s No Kings Event, held in Railroad Park, featured speeches made by prominent local leaders, including former U.S. Senator Doug Jones, D-Alabama, and Reverend Julie Conrady of Birmingham’s United Universalist Church.
“We’re here today like so many more that have come to Birmingham before us, not just for No Kings rallies, but for civil rights, for anti-war protests, you name it, to speak out about injustices when they see it,” said Jones.
“We are here because ‘freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than a generation away from extinction. It’s not ours by way of inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation,’” Jones continued, quoting Ronald Reagan’s 1967 gubernatorial inauguration speech.
“[Reagan] talked about freedom and liberty, something that is completely lost on a certain political party caucus in Washington, D.C.,” Jones added.
The former senator went on to condemn Trump’s rhetoric, alongside Johnson’s comments on the demonstrations.
“Do you think this president or Mike Johnson gives one damn about human dignity after the way they talk about people?” Jones asked. “So, let’s tell Mike Johnson he needs to put up or shut up about American freedom. Let’s tell Mike Johnson it’s time we get this government back open to give people the healthcare they so deserve.”
More than 600 people gathered for the No Kings rally in downtown Montgomery.
Demonstrators marched from Riverfront Park to the Court Square Fountain, the former site of a slave market prior to the Civil War.
Speakers at the event included Montgomery organizer for the Alabama Poor People’s Campaign Reverend Valtoria Jackson and Alabama Democratic Party Vice Chair Tabitha Isner.
“This is the kind of change that requires we keep showing up. The last time we showed up, we were a good, decent crowd, but this time we are bigger. The next time we show up, we will be even bigger,” Isner said.
“No king, no crowns, no thrones, only love, because violence is not just bullets and bombs,” said Jackson. “Violence is when people cannot afford a house, violence is when a voter cannot afford medicine, violence is when mothers continue to lose sons and daughters to greed and guns. Violence is when the rich get tax breaks, and the poor get evicted.”
Additional “No Kings” events were held in Mobile, Tuscaloosa, Florence, Guntersville, Athens, Haleyville, Oxford, Dadeville, Selma, Auburn, Dothan and Fairhope.
Demonstrations across the state were overwhelmingly peaceful, with no major confrontations being reported between protestors and police.
However, a social media video from the demonstration in Fairhope documented a woman being forcibly detained by police and removed in handcuffs, allegedly for lewd conduct, after appearing at the rally in an inflatable penis costume with a sign reading “No dick-tator.”
“No Kings” organizers reported Sunday that the protests saw nearly 7 million attendees nationwide.
The organization is planning a virtual event on October 21, where movement leaders and local activists will discuss next steps for the movement.
