Thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Boston Common Saturday for the “No Kings” rally, voicing dissatisfaction with the actions of the Trump administration. 

Approximately 7 million people attended more than 2,700 No Kings rallies planned across the United States, filling squares and parks in both major cities and small towns. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Indivisible Mass Coalition and Mass 50501 organized the demonstration in Boston, with more than 100,000 people in attendance.

Speakers, including Mayor Michelle Wu, and performers addressed issues relating to authoritarianism, immigration, health care and workers’ rights.

“In this city of immigrants and workers, in this hub of the universe and cradle of liberty, for the last 250 years and counting in Boston, every day is ‘No King’s Day,’” Wu said during her speech. 

In recent months, Wu has clashed with the Trump administration after she supported laws preventing local police from engaging with federal immigration enforcement.

“What scares [the Trump administration] most about Boston is that we are proof of the America they insist is impossible, one where diversity and creativity fuel progress and opportunity,” she said. 

Protesters held up signs with slogans such as “Protect free speech,” “Power to the people” and “ICE melts.”

Some demonstrators wore costumes, including a group dressed as lobsters. Blaine Bershad said his lobster costume was a nod to the frog costumes at recent protests against ICE deportation efforts in Portland, Oregon.

“We really, really, really need to stop these people any way we can,” he said. “I vote for using the theater of the absurd to show everybody how crazy they are.” 

Doreen Wade, a 68-year-old resident of Dracut, Massachusetts, said she was protesting because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had visited her home, despite being a citizen whose family had been in the country since the 17th century. 

“I came out here to fight today because, even though I am not an immigrant, I know what now it’s like to be an immigrant and have ICE come to your home,” Wade said. “And also, because I feel like my grandchildren, my granddaughters have less rights in their life than I did.” 

She also attended the protest to represent Black women.

“Nobody cares about our problems and our issues, and we are losing all our rights,” Wade said. “We’re losing our jobs. We’re losing everything.” 

Wade has been marching and protesting since she was 6 years old, she said, and attended the March on Washington in the 1960s.

“I have been doing this all my life, and I’m still out here doing it today,” she said.

Samuel Monahan, a resident from Stoughton, Massachusetts, said he feels the Trump administration has lost sight of issues it should focus on. 

“Instead of working towards the things that matter, like lowering costs and getting universal basic income, they decide to just distract everybody by throwing out people who weren’t doing anything wrong,” Monahan said. “They don’t have love in their heart for really anybody except the rich.”

Protesters Meg Darcy from Somerset and Jennifer Wang from Duluth, Georgia, said they disagreed with the administration’s stance on environmental issues and its lack of support for minority groups.

Wang said she is protesting for “all of the regulations that no longer support what makes America amazing and all the diversity it holds.”

“It’s just everything that goes against human empathy and human nature,” she added. 

Other elected officials, including Attorney General of Massachusetts Andrea Joy Campbell and State Representatives Katherine Clark and Seth Moulton, made speeches. 

“Down in Washington, my Republican colleagues have been calling you some pretty ugly names this week. They even said that you hate your country, but here in the Commonwealth, we’re pretty good at telling the difference between patriots and kings,” Clark said during her speech. “Patriots believe in free speech. Kings silence their critics.”

A small group touting Palestinian flags chanted over the three officials’ speeches. Among them was Fawaz Abusharkh, a founder and lead organizer of the Boston Coalition for Palestine.

“I would love our politicians to start being on the right side of history,” Abusharkh said, referring to Israel’s invasion of Gaza. “We cannot keep feeding genocides.”

Protesters remained peaceful throughout the event, and social justice and political organizations gathered to promote their causes. 

Susan Lees, a member of the climate action group Mothers Out Front, said the nonprofit attended to fight for democracy and advocate for an end to environmental injustice. At the local level, the organization is currently lobbying for decreased utility costs. 

“We’re working to stop the gas utilities, in particular, from ripping us off,” Lees said. “We have a petition to Governor Healey and our legislators asking that our utilities, like Eversource and National Grid, don’t keep using their money to lobby to keep the gas industry going and pollute our atmosphere.”

Brian Garvey, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action, said the organization, which pushes for “just and peaceful” U.S. foreign policy, was at the demonstration to “push back against authoritarianism.” 

“Now, in times of war, the executive takes massive powers, curtails civil liberties, and that’s the issue that we work on,” Garvey said. “We spend about 50% of our federal discretionary tax dollars on weapons, and that’s money we could be spending on healthcare, education, infrastructure [and] protecting our environment.”

Protesters and speakers emphasized the role of these rallies in fostering community. 

“What’s really great about Boston, too, is bringing the different pockets of every little neighborhood together and making a unified voice, which definitely speaks a lot louder than people imagine,” Darcy said. 

Rahsaan Hall, emcee of the event and CEO and president of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, encouraged people to seek out resources to become more active in their communities.

“This is what democracy looks like,” he said, addressing the crowd. “No sign is big enough to list all the reasons I’m here.”

Hall urged the crowd to continue fighting for democracy and resisting tyranny and authoritarianism. 

“The people united will never be defeated,” Hall said.