How to protest the Trump administration on the heels of a brutal immigration crackdown that left two protesters in Minneapolis dead and a war the U.S. is waging in Iran that a majority of Americans oppose, amid now-soaring gas prices and a sagging economy?

At one of the “No Kings” actions in Baltimore yesterday, some went with quotes from, or riffs on, our greatest thinkers:

There was founding father Thomas Paine (“In America, the law is king”), poet Robert Frost (“Two roads diverged in the woods and America took the psycho-path!”) and beloved children’s television personality Mr. Rogers (“Look for the helpers! Vote for the helpers!”)

Others went with the usual expletives directed at ICE, several fired back at Trump with his own rude words (“Quiet, Piggy!”) while one person opted for the image of a guillotine and a message of “Off with his head!”

But 87-year-old city resident Evelyn Chatmon kept it simple, wearing a crown emblazoned with the words “No, no, no!!”

“I just needed to be here. I’m really proud of the people of this country,” Chatmon said to The Brew, as she walked the four blocks back to her car after participating in the rally in front of the George H. Fallon Federal Building along with about 1,000 people.

In the U.S. and around the world, millions participated in the third “No Kings” event, actions organized to galvanize people who believe the administration’s policies are harming U.S. citizens, undermining democracy and destabilizing the world.

• For Baltimore immigrants, showing up for the “No Kings” protest felt both urgent and perilous (6/16/25)

In the Baltimore area, there were protests also in front of City Hall, outside of Penn Station and a massive “sign wave” stretching from Baltimore city far up into Baltimore County.

Protesters lined York Road, drawing students and seniors, church groups and immigrants’ rights organizations, drawing honks of support and the occasional hostile remark from passing motorists with differing views.

“Trump manufactured chaos”

Speakers at yesterday’s Hopkins Plaza protest involved the names of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, the two people killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January. Then the crowd took off on a march past Camden Yards ahead of an Orioles game and then snaked through downtown.

Their starting point was the federal building that serves as the local headquarters for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  (ICE), the target of a lawsuit filed by Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown against
the Trump administration.

The suit demands ICE turn over documents the state is seeking as part of its investigation of “unlawful conditions” at the immigrant holding facility.

Poor conditions for detainees at the facility have been reported since last year. A viral video that began circulating in January showed detainees crowded in a holding room on the sixth floor of the ICE facility, about three dozen men huddled on the floor under metallic blankets.

Maryland’s suit claims the agency has exceeded the holding center capacity of 56 people, detaining more than 120 people in holding rooms, or cells, “not designed or equipped for sleeping, or to provide food, water, or medical care for extended periods of time.”

Chatmon said she was hopeful the protest she participated in, and the others around the country yesterday, was a sign that the support for Trump that propelled the former reality show star into office is on the wane.

“They believed every lie he told them,” she said. “If you’re not keeping on top of the news, that’s what happens, you believe what he says.”

Chatmon said she was hopeful that change is coming and that it has started with efforts to get the government to dial back on the immigration enforcement actions that have turned deadly.

“If we can hogtie ICE and not have to worry about them killing any more Americans, that would be a start,” Chatmon observed.

More No Kings Scenes