Thousands of people marched through Downtown Cleveland Saturday chanting "No kings, no crowns, he can't tear our country down."
It was just one part of a national protest movement in response to a military parade U.S. President Donald Trump held in Washington D.C. on the same day.
Protest organizers estimated at least 5,000 people attended a rally at Willard Park and a subsequent march through Cleveland. Signs and chants challenged what many called Trump's "authoritarianism," protesting everything from ramped up immigration enforcement to defunding of science grants.
"This shock and awe, this shock and awe that Trump's so proud of, he's been hitting us over the head with new assaults on the rule of law," local Reverend Lois Annich said during the rally. "Don't take the bait, don't doom scroll yourself into depression and paralysis. Call a friend. Call a friend, take action with the groups you know and trust and focus on the goodness of all of these patriots right here."
Organizer Cindy Demsey, chair of the Cuyahoga Women's Caucus, said the event showed Cleveland's opposition to immigration raids across the country, including recent arrests made in California that sparked heated protests there. Trump ordered National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles soon after.
"We're really pleased with the turnout, pleased that it stopped raining, we couldn't be happier with the energy, and we feel like everybody across the state, the country, will see us, that we are here to fight back," Demsey said.
Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nicki Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Cleveland City Councilmember Jenny Spencer also spoke during the rally.
Antonio urged the crowd to protest peacefully. She also sought a moment of silence, prompted by the news from Minnesota that a man posing as a police officer shot two Minnesota lawmakers, both Democrats, and their spouses Friday.
Kavitha Bhagat, a local immigration attorney, attended the march with her two children. Her daughter Amaya, held a sign reading "no kings, just kindness."
"I'm here because I believe in immigration. I believe immigration makes America great, so I don't like the turn this is taking," Bhagat said.
Thousands of protesters turned out across the region at similar rallies Saturday, from Akron to Youngstown to Sandusky. The mass mobilization efforts, which have been dubbed the "No Kings Day of Defiance," were initially organized by Indivisible, which describes itself as a grassroots movement focused on electing progressive leaders and defeating the Trump agenda.
In the center of Hudson mid-afternoon Saturday, protesters lined both sides of Darrow Road, the main north-south street through the city. They waved a variety of signs, including professionally produced signs reading "No Kings" and “Lock Him Up," and hand-written posterboards, one colorfully proclaiming “All my outrage won’t fit on one sign!” One simple carboard sign read, “I want Democracy!!”
At times, some chanted “We the people have the power,” while others cheered as drivers slowly made their way along the street honking in support, some flashing the crowd a thumbs up as they inched by.
Right to Read Ohio, a nonprofit advocating for Ohio's libraries, said about 700 people attended a "No Kings" rally in Chagrin Falls. Sharon Hawkes of Right to Read Ohio called on the Trump administration not to shutter the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and called on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a provision in the Ohio biennial budget that would hide from minors library materials "related to sexual orientation or gender identity or expression."
The Associated Press estimated Trump's military parade could cost between $25 million and $45 million.
