Downtown Richmond rang with chants and cheers Saturday as thousands gathered for the city’s No Kings Day of Defiance, part of a nation-wide protest against the Trump administration.

The diverse crowd filled Capitol Square, gathered in Kanawha Plaza and marched through downtown, at times bringing traffic to a standstill as their chants and signs stretched across the evening.

The event was the second “No Kings” protest in Richmond organized this year by grassroots Virginia groups, after a previous rally on President’s Day, as part of a nationwide campaign against President Donald Trump’s administration and its actions.

  

“Communities across this country are saying loud and clear, we will not stay silent when our freedoms are under attack,” ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer said during a speech.

“We will not sit idly by when our neighbors are under attack, we will not sit on our hands while they try to undermine our civil rights and civil liberties and do away with the rule of law.”

  

Despite forecasts of heavy rain, rumors of counterprotests and a warning from Gov. Glenn Youngkin that the National Guard would respond to any illegal activity, the protest occurred without incident.

A brief rain shower near the end did little to deter the crowd, which had marched to Kanawha Plaza and cheered as people waved flags and signs from atop the park fountain.

  

The No Kings protests brought together millions of people in over 2,100 localities  nationwide, according to organizers, a sharp contrast to a military parade hosted the same day in Washington D.C. as part of the U.S. Army’s anniversary celebration and the president’s birthday.

A major focus of the protest was the Trump administration’s military response to demonstrations in Los Angeles against ICE operations. Speakers and attendees also denounced the administration’s deportations, detentions as well as corporate influence in politics and the targeting of marginalized communities.

Many attended out of concern for the threats they believed the administration posed to their communities, the nation and the world, as well as a desire for action and justice.

“It’s not easy at my age looking at what my grandkids and my kids gotta go through,” said Mechanicsville resident Curtis Rustin, who attended the protest with his wife Rosa. “It is unbelievable.”

Organizers also worked to carry the protest’s momentum into other community efforts. Booths for mutual aid and political groups lined Kanawha Plaza, and work is already underway on specific policies and local issues, according to RVA Indivisible organizer Mike Dunn.

“We’d like to let people know that we’re here, that we work together,” said Dunn when asked about his group’s goals as part of the protest. “That we are a force and that we are an outlet for people’s interest and their concerns.”