‘No Kings’ rallies remain peaceful in Kansas City. Here’s what protesters had to say
Two hours after Kansas City’s “No Kings” protest was scheduled to end, many demonstrators remained at Mill Creek Park chanting, banging drums and hoisting handmade picket signs in the air as cars passing by honked.
Much of the massive crowd had diminished by around 4 p.m., but passionate chants continued into the evening, including “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” and “No kings, no crown, we the people won’t back down.”
One protester said they would stay at the park as long as they could on Saturday.
“As long as it takes,” said Tim Hunter, 58. “What brought me out today is tomorrow. I’m worried about the next generation. I’m worried about our democracy being sustained. I’m worried about what the future is for my grandchildren.”
Large crowds of demonstrators took to sidewalks, parks and streets across the Kansas City metro Saturday as part of a nationwide protest against Trump administration policies.
The protests and rallies, dubbed the “No Kings” protests by national organizers, were scheduled in 1,500 cities across all 50 states. They’re meant to be a counterprotest to a military parade and festival in Washington, D.C. Saturday, marking the president’s 79th birthday and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
Protests were held locally in Kansas City, Lee’s Summit, Lenexa and Overland Park.
The marches come on the tail-end of a week full of protests in Los Angeles, as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement and the National Guard while protesting mass deportations carried out by U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement.
About two hours into the Kansas City rally, protesters marched down several blocks in the Country Club Plaza, flying upside-down American flags as cars drove slowly behind them.
Volunteer security personnel helped gather people back to the sidewalks and helped pedestrians cross busy intersections. The stoplight at Mill Creek Parkway and West 47th Street turned into a flashing red four-way stop to account for the large volume of pedestrians.
Minimal police presence at rallies
The large crowds remained peaceful across the metro Saturday. There was little to no police presence at the massive rally at Mill Creek Park beyond security guards on regular patrol near the Plaza.
Crowds were met with subtle counter protests from Trump supporters Saturday. Near the Plaza, demonstrators booed a large truck bearing a Trump bumper sticker and exchanged words with the driver briefly before the vehicle drove off.
A few vehicles also flew Trump flags as they drove by the protest in Lenexa.
Gov. Mike Kehoe activated the Missouri National Guard Thursday, declaring a state of emergency due to civil unrest. However, there was no evidence of riots or widespread violence in the state.
There was no apparent sign of any National Guard soldiers near rallies held Saturday in the Kansas City metro.
In Kansas City, the number of demonstrators gradually dwindled throughout the afternoon to a small but vocal group that waved signs at passing vehicles, danced in the street and chanted.
At one point a group passed around a microphone, offering messages of support for the immigrant community, sharing personal stories and urging people to get involved.
“We are a country of immigrants,” one speaker yelled, standing in the middle of a circle that gathered in the park.
Jerry Bales, 76, of Shawnee, and his wife Pam Bales, 74, said they don’t attend protests, but felt like they couldn’t stay silent today.
Bales, a retired lawyer of 50 years, said he attended Kansas City’s rally to express his frustration with the executive branch’s “lack of respect for the judiciary,” which he said he views as a threat to democracy.
Around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, he held a sign at Mill Creek Park that read, “Respect the law.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire life,” Bales said. “I mean, I lived through the Nixon days, Watergate. I’ve lived through a lot of stuff.”
“This is unprecedented, and what’s going on in our country is that democracy, I really do think, is slipping away,” he said. “I don’t know, many people during the election said that was an exaggeration. They said it was not productive to argue that. It’s absolutely true now that we see what’s going on.”
Protest in Lenexa
A protest at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park began at 10 a.m. Saturday, with tearful remarks from Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat.
Under the awning of a gazebo, Sykes choked up as she told the crowd that Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed early Saturday morning in what Gov. Tim Walz said “appears to be a politically motivated assassination.”
Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also injured.
“So, I want us to remember them,” Sykes said. “But more than that, you give me hope, because our country is broken.”
Attendees then each took a personal oath, similar to one taken by the United States president as they are sworn into office.
Protesters of all ages lined 87th Street Parkway, cheering as passing cars honked in support.
Two demonstrations in Overland Park
Two protests in Overland Park, one on 135th Street and Metcalf Avenue and another on 119th Street and Blue Valley Parkway, saw scores of people line the respective streets, chanting “We don’t need a king, let our freedom ring.”
Karen Kim attended the 135th Street and Metcalf Avenue protest, in part, for her parents.
“I’m the youngest daughter of two immigrant parents,” Kim said. “I have witnessed firsthand what my parents have sacrificed. I only have American citizenship because of the sacrifices they made and everything they’ve done for me.”
Kim remarked that “immigrants run this country.”
“We are the people who clean your bathrooms, get you your fruit, your veggies, we’re the people who fix your cars, we’re the people who get you your Starbucks every day,” Kim said. “This country is nothing without immigrants.”
Jacqueline Lee said she attended the protest to exercise freedom of speech.
“A lot of these people are our neighbors, our friends,” Lee said. “I know a lot of people who are very personally affected by this, and it’s important to speak up when you can.”
Both women were pleased with the turnout of the event.
“We were talking about how it really restored our faith in the Overland Park community, because we genuinely did not expect this turnout,” Kim said.
Nicole Colunga stood behind an easel at 135th Street, her paintbrush depicting the scene of protesters in front of her.
“It’s a peaceful protest, and we want to be able to express ourselves in a way that means the most to us, and this is the way that I’m able to do that.”
Although she “isn’t great with words,” Colunga felt a picture was worth a thousand words. Next to her easel lay a table with a second canvas, which demonstrators were able to sign.
For some protesters, like Laura Meidel, Saturday’s “No Kings” protests was not her first.
“This is my third resistance rally since Trump’s been in office, and I went to the big one in Washington D.C.,” Meidel said. “And I do it because I have two grandchildren, and I’m afraid for our democracy. Terrified.”
Meidel and the women with her briefly second-guessed their involvement in the protest after hearing about the killing of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband.
“When I heard about the murders this morning, I thought, ‘Should I really go?’” said Kathy Cook, who attended the rally. “And I said, ‘Of course I should go now.’”
Meidel said all attendees at the protest are connected by “a common thread of wanting decency, of wanting national parks, of wanting more democracy, of not wanting an autocrat and an oligarchy taking over money.”
At 119th Street and Blue Valley Parkway, Sophia Almajjar and Devin Schulze led the crowd, chanting, “One, two, three, four, occupation no more. Five, six, seven, eight, stop the killing, stop the hate.”
Almajjar said people should keep their eyes on history.
“When people say things like, ‘Oh, we’re coming out here to just yell, and there’s really no point,’ well… look at history. Look at what history has taught us,” Almajjar said.
The two women were protesting for Palestinian rights, but emphasized the fact that everyone’s reasons for protesting are interconnected.
“We already had one person here try to shoo us off and say that, ‘This is a different protest.’ And I’m like, you don’t seem to understand that it’s the same, it’s not different,” Shulze said.
The Star’s PJ Green, Nathan Pilling and Ramal Nasim contributed to this story.
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM.
