PHOENIX – Michelle Byrd, clad in oxidized-green robes and the seven-pointed crown of the Statue of Liberty, walked in stride among the chants and chatter of a crowd thousands-strong marching east on Jefferson Street in Phoenix’s No Kings protest.
Byrd’s outfit was a statement to refute the growing narrative pushed by Republican figures, such as House Speaker Mike Johnson and others, who said Saturday’s nationwide demonstrations would be “hate America” rallies.
Dressed as one of the United States’ most recognizable icons, Byrd said it was Republicans supporting President Donald Trump who were the real anti-Americans.
“They’re anti-democracy. They’re anti-liberty. They’re authoritarians,” Byrd said. “So, I don’t give a s— what they think.”
Others across the Valley and country felt the same as Byrd. As numerous grassroots organizations organized their communities’ part of the No Kings movement, like-minded protesters came together, in costumes and camaraderie, to counter the claims that they were violent and anti-American.
With the federal government shut down, controversial National Guard deployments and continued ICE activity in traditionally blue cities, and the Department of Justice under Trump seeking indictments toward political rivals left, right and center, the nationwide protest comes as polarization is rampant throughout the country.
Many protesters donned costumes like inflatable unicorns, frogs, dinosaurs and penguins, as well as comic book heroes such as Spider-Man, Wonder Woman and Captain America.
Protesters draped American flags with one arm as they raised their handmade signs with the other, each emblazoned with grievances against the administration. One read, “No Faux King Way.”
“This is kind of our way of saying, you know, the flag is for all of us, not just for the side that supports Trump,” said Bree Krejsta-Jestrin, who joined thousands of protesters at the event Saturday.
The nonprofit Indivisible organized the event, taking to social media on Sept. 3 to call upon communities to unite in protest against Trump and what it described as the excesses of his administration.
Saturday’s event was a follow-up to No Kings’ previous nationwide protest day in June, which attracted over 5 million protesters in more than 2,000 events across all 50 states.
Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable health care or lowering costs for working families, Johnson put his efforts into “attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people,” the No Kings coalition said in a statement.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said “all those people that are going to come here and express their hatred towards this country” would populate these protests. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said “the terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party was holding a “hate America rally.”
Sunday night after the event, Trump said the protesters were “whacked out” and “not representative of this country.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes took the stage in front of the state Capitol, moments before the crowd began to march, to commend the protesters, fist raised in the air.
“Once in a generation, Americans are called upon to stand up for our country, and now is our time,” Mayes said, calling for the crowd’s flags to be raised high. “We love this country. You are all patriots, and don’t ever let them take that word away from us.”
Meagan O’Connor, founder of Mesa Valley Indivisible, led the No Kings protest in that city, where protesters lined the sidewalks of several blocks down Val Vista Drive. It was among over 60 protests in the state.
“We are having joyful protests, even more so than we normally do, to make sure that it does not appear at all as if we are doing any violence,” O’Connor said the day before the event.
As the downtown Phoenix march wrapped around Fourth Avenue and turned west down Washington Street, it concluded back in front of the Capitol, where organizers thanked the protesters for their efforts, wished them well and played music from the stage speakers for the remaining protesters to dance and revel in. Some participated in a hoedown and line danced as the event came to a close.
Musician Heather Stewart played her horn in a community band that performed “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “When the Saints Go Marching In,” among other pop hits, during the Tempe protest.
Protesters and those who came out in solidarity did so from the “goodness of their hearts and support of the American history and dream,” Stewart said in between songs.
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