Both the early rain showers and grisly politically motivated assassinations in Minnesota failed to deter hundreds of Louisvillians and Kentuckiana neighbors from showing up and speaking out at the anti-Trump “No Kings” rally held today on the steps of Metro Hall.
It was one of more than 2000 such rallies organized across the country in direct opposition to Donald Trump’s 79th birthday celebration and military parade set to dominate Washington, D.C.
The national backdrop leading up to the event included the Gestapo-style ICE raids across the country, which spawned volatile protests in Los Angeles, provoking Trump to deploy both California’s National Guard as well as 200 Marines to allegedly protect federal property—despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s vehement objections.
Just days ago in LA, California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly dragged out of a Homeland Security press briefing led by Secretary Kristi Noem, where he was wrestled to the ground, handcuffed and temporarily detained for merely posing probative questions to the Secretary.
Meanwhile, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” continues to wind its way through Congress. It aims to cut millions of dollars in Medicaid and SNAP benefits that serve millions of impoverished Americans while simultaneously extending $4 trillion in tax cuts to billionaires—cuts that will add $2.4 trillion to the ballooning deficit. A deficit that has contributed to the decline of the dollar, pushed up gold prices and stoked fear and loathing among bond market traders.
On the international stage, Israel, which has been hellbent on ethnically cleansing Palestinian civilians, concluded that its multi-front war against Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and various factions in Syria was devoid of one key foe, prompting Netanyahu’s government to unilaterally bomb Iran in an unprovoked attack on Friday, targeting its generals and nuclear weapons program—while U.S.-Iran nuclear discussions were still ongoing. Those talks are now dead in the sand.
Israel’s brazen act of war against a sovereign country caused oil prices to spike, intensified concerns over global instability and triggered cynical predictions about the U.S. being dragged into yet another Middle East morass that will cost more American blood and taxpayer dollars, as we continue to defend the rogue tail ally that wags the dog.
It was against this national and international context that Louisville leaders gave fiery speeches and performers sang impassioned songs (including John Lennon’s “Imagine”) in front of Metro Hall’s towering neoclassical Doric columns and triangular pediment.
Hordes of locals from all demographics bled into one, pouring down the municipal steps, onto the base of the Jefferson monument, across Jefferson Street and into Jefferson Square Park—holding aloft a menagerie of signs and slogans denouncing Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s totalitarian, fascist regime.
It was the largest and most robust crowd I’ve witnessed in the city square since the Breonna Taylor protests of 2020. And it was reinvigorating.
Several images stood out from the sea of humanity, including a man dressed in full king regalia—golden crown, scepter and ruby red royal mantle—offset by his Elvis-style Vegas aviator sunglasses.
A sundry of citizens proudly draped American flags over homemade t-shirts featuring “No King” iconography, while one dog I saw wore a cutout sign wrapped around its neck like a picture frame collar that read, “Resting Bitch Face.”
Other notable slogans declared:
· “The Only Dangerous Minority in America is Billionaires.”
· “Hell is made of ICE.”
· “America Elects Presidents, Not Kings.”
· “Love thy Neighbor.”
· “Due Process for All.”
· “No Kings But Elvis; No Bosses But Springsteen.”
· And my favorite, “Alexa, Change the President.”
Police were stationed on rooftops. A bassist in a band busy warming up on a makeshift stage softly plucked the bassline to a Rage Against the Machine track I could not immediately place—but it nevertheless made my head bob and took me back to my rebellious teens as I snapped photos from a concrete wall perch.
Orange Chrysanthemum flowers bloomed in the park where Tyler Gerth was shot dead. Old-timers sat on lawn chairs and smiled at passersby. Kids ran wild and free. An “Indivisible” outreach tent, one of the event’s organizers, solicited new supporters. Marijuana fumes wafted through the crowd. Cars honked in celebration—although I did witness at least one suspect-faced hillbilly in a pickup scowling as he grumbled down Chestnut Street, recording the scene.
WLKY’s helicopter circled overhead as half a dozen drones buzzed the skies. I spoke to one drone operator and freelance videographer capturing content for a client. “I got some excellent footage,” he said. When I asked what stood out, he replied simply, “The massive crowd.”
He was also the first to point out where the LMPD were stationed on rooftops—though I’d grown accustomed to spotting police lookouts and snipers during past protests, his observations reminded me of their quiet omnipresence.
When Kentucky Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey took the microphone, he began by asking for a moment of silence for Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, who were fatally shot. Another Minnesota lawmaker and spouse were also wounded—allegedly by the same gunman—but are in stable condition.
After starting the classic chant—“The power is with the people; the people have the power”—McGarvey roared, “We are not going to let any king, dictator or authoritarian take it away from us.” And the masses answered with thunderous applause.
He then said, “This is a little like church,” and instructed us to turn to our neighbors and say, “I’m glad you are here.” Our congregation obliged, greeting one another and momentarily recalling a time before phone screens disconnected us from our neighbors and hijacked our reptilian brains.
After itemizing a laundry list of Trump-era atrocities, McGarvey gave a passionate plea:
“We cannot slide into what we have seen happen in other authoritarian countries… So, make sure you show up. You speak out. That you don’t think this (is) enough. That you write letters. That you make phone calls. That you march. That you get out to vote. That you support candidates who are going to support the things you support and not put up or kowtow to the guy we’ve got in the White House right now.”
He then closed with a call-and-response:
“When we fight…”
“We win!”
“When we fight…”
“We win!”
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This article appears in Jun 6-19, 2025.