{"id":44631,"date":"2025-10-21T11:53:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44631"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T04:02:07","slug":"oakland-turns-out-for-no-kings-protest-against-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/21\/oakland-turns-out-for-no-kings-protest-against-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland turns out for \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Protesters march though Oakland Chinatown on Oct. 18, 2025, for the No Kings Day protest. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Posted in Arts & Community<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not bow,\u201d Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee told the thousands of East Bay residents who marched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Natalie\"Avatar\"Darwin\"\" by\u00a0Natalie Orenstein<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Esther Kaplan<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Darwin BondGraham<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Richard H. Grant<\/a><\/strong> Oct. 18, 2025 (Oaklandside.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of protesters rallied and marched today in Oakland in opposition to what many see as increasing authoritarianism<\/a> by the Trump Administration \u2014 part of a day of \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests in an estimated 2,500 cities and towns<\/a> across the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protest culminated in a rally on the shore of Lake Merritt where former Congresswoman and now Mayor of Oakland Barbara Lee said her city will not stand idly by while people\u2019s rights are stripped away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not subjects. We are the people,\u201d said Lee. \u201cWe are the people who will not bow to any king\u2026.we are free people and we intend to stay that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee spoke at the No Kings rally in Oakland on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon gave a fiery speech about Trump and the Republicans who control both houses of Congress: \u201cThey smile while children are separated from their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe are living in the midnight of our democracy,\u201d Simon warned, \u201cbut midnight don\u2019t last forever \u2014 dawn is coming.\u201d She called on the audience to not \u201ccapitulate,\u201d saying, \u201cFrom Oakland to Haiti, from the picket lines at Kaiser to Detroit\u2026no empire stands up against the people who remember who the fuck we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congresswoman Lateefah Simon fires up the crowd at Oakland\u2019s No Kings protest on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Organizers estimate that more than 10,000 people<\/a> turned out for Oakland\u2019s march on an unusually warm October day, similar to the turnout for June\u2019s protest<\/a>. Nationally, the protest group Indivisible, said it counted roughly 7 million attendees<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thousands massed at Wilma Chan Park in Oakland Chinatown for the No Kings march on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some supporters showed up in costumes, mixing Halloween spirit with political messages. Others wore silly inflatable animal suites<\/a>, similar to those protesters have used in Portland, Ore. to emphasize that their city is not a \u201cwar zone,\u201d as Trump and others claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some rally-goers like Galvez Guv seemed to embrace the Halloween spirit, dressing in outlandish costumes for the protest. Guv said he was \u201cThe Emperor\u201d with his new clothes. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karen Hsu and Gautam Machiraju, both 31-year-old Rockridge residents, came to the protest to speak up for people who \u201cdon\u2019t have voices right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both children of immigrants who came here to find a better life,\u201d said Hsu. \u201cThat\u2019s the America we believe in. Where everyone is welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also came to find community in resistance,\u201d said Gautam. \u201cThe number of people in Rockridge headed to BART this morning was really inspiring.\u201d

The march in Oakland wound its way up Harrison Street and down 13th to Lake Merritt. A scraper car<\/a> cruised by several times blasting YG and Nipsy Hussle\u2019s protest anthem \u201cFuck Donald Trump<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitch Plueger, a 37-year-old Oakland resident and Naval Academy grad served on an aircraft carrier for six years. \u201cI took an oath to support and defend the constitution and Donald Trump has no respect for the constitution,\u201d Plueger said. \u201cHe\u2019s showing he\u2019s against democracy, and I had a duty to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit: Esther Kaplan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Plueger said about half the people he served with had the same view. \u201cYou saw the reaction when Hegseth gathered all of those commanding officers for that meeting, a bunch of them don\u2019t believe in what they\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professional clowns, Max (left) and Charlie Pain prepare for the start of the No Kings Day protest in Oakland on Oct. 18, 2025. Credit: Richard H. Grant<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Molly Lorenz and Christina Macalino, met at Montera Middle School in Oakland. This is not the first protest they\u2019ve attended together. Lorenz was carrying a sign from the 2017 Women\u2019s March. \u201cWe were reflecting on that today,\u201d she said, \u201cand how we\u2019re still fighting for the same things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The friends, who work in education, said they came to the march to support Palestinian children and children detained by ICE. For Lorenz, it\u2019s encouraging to attend protests and \u201cbe reminded that so many others feel the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Allison, donning a blue dinosaur costume, said it\u2019s an homage to the Portland protesters who dressed similarly and a \u201ccelebration of our right to protest and of free speech.\u201d Credit: Natalie Orenstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oakland\u2019s No Kings rally in June drew an estimated 10,000 people, along with a range of elected officials including Rep. Simon, state assemblymember Mia Bonta, and Alameda County supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas. An estimated 4 million people showed up at nearly 2,000 protests across the country on June 14, including an estimated 140,000<\/a> across the Bay Area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Speaker Republican Mike Johnson has condemned the day of protests<\/a> as \u201cThe Hate America Rally.\u201d But today, many marchers in Oakland and around the country carried American flags and signs with patriotic slogans. The No Kings\u2019 slogan is \u201cAmerica has no kings, and the power belongs to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berkeley<\/a>, El Sobrante, San Pablo<\/a>, and other East Bay communities also saw large protests today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the No Kings protests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The East Bay \u2018resistance\u2019: A guide to local activism<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Photos:<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photos: Oakland \u2018No Kings\u2019 protest fills streets<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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