Across Los Angeles and thousands of other cities worldwide, crowds gathered for the No Kings protests Saturday, Oct. 18. Although demonstrations took place around the globe, they were allied under the No Kings Alliance with one goal: to peacefully stand up against the actions of the Trump administration.
Protesters arrived with handmade posters, flags and musical instruments, chanting phrases like “No kings, no thrones, oligarchs have got to go.” Some Archer students and community members participated in the protests, emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and protecting free speech in today’s political climate.
Senior Max Speck, who attended the No Kings protest in Venice Beach, said it is important for younger generations to exercise their right to protest because their opinions will not be heard otherwise.
“Especially as a minor, there aren’t a lot of political things you can do. You can’t vote, and that’s a huge thing,” Speck said. “Just showing your support for what you want with the country wherever you can is important because it’s the country of your future, and it should be hospitable to you.”
Speck also attended a smaller protest in North Bend, Washington, a city with a population of less than 9,000, on the first No Kings protest, June 14. He said hundreds of people showed up with signs and bells.
“The one in the small town was impactful because it’s a town where you don’t really expect that kind of support,” Speck said. “Showing up there and seeing so many people who were all fighting for the same things, even though they were in an area where that’s not common, was really meaningful to me.”
That sense of solidarity and community is what people, including Speck and Sara Salehi (’26), say encourages them to attend protests. The most recent No Kings protest at Palisades Park in Santa Monica was Salehi’s first experience at a demonstration.
“It makes me wish I had gone to different protests earlier — the energy was amazing,” Salehi said. “It was great to be surrounded by people who felt the same way I did so I didn’t feel as alone in my beliefs as I thought I was.”
She said news and social media platforms often paint protests as anti-America, but that her experience was the opposite.
“People were playing music on speakers and on drums and dancing,” Salehi said. “The news portrays protests as this very violent, dangerous thing, but really it’s just a bunch of people walking around with signs yelling about what they care about.”
History teacher Bethany Neubauer has actively attended protests for various causes since she was in middle school. She said in recent years, some protests have ended violently, and many demonstrators at the No Kings protests did things such as dress up in inflatable costumes to dispel the narrative that all left-leaning protesters are looking to incite violence.
“There was dancing and music and really clever signs, and it just felt like a big street party with a political bent,” Neubauer said. “Protests don’t have to be violent, they can be joyful, so just having that moment of joy, I think, was really valuable.”
From veterans to students, more than 4-6 million citizens participated in the June 14 protests, while nearly 7 million people attended the protests Oct. 18. From small-town gatherings to huge rallies in major cities, a diverse range of people showed up for the demonstrations.
“There was a real range of people, from people in their 80s down to little kids and everything in between. That was really nice to see,” Neubauer said. “I was really encouraged to see lots of high school and college-age young people there, too. I think another way to build continuity in this country and understanding across generations is showing up to speak up for what you believe in.”
As student body president, Salehi said that being able to hear and understand different perspectives is one of the most important qualities a leader can have.
“As a leader in general, I think the top two qualities to have are being able to listen to people and just being able to stop and understand,” Salehi said. “It’s something that is a lot harder than it seems because it takes willpower to not immediately get defensive or argue when someone is disagreeing with you, and I think just being able to understand where someone’s coming from is huge.”
Neubauer also said the ability to protest is deeply tied to American identity and that there is a reason why freedom of speech and freedom to protest are included in the First Amendment of the United States.
“Our nation as a country was born out of protests, out of protest movements held in the colonies against what they saw as the British government’s abuse of power that they felt was not legitimate,” Neaubauer said. “If you don’t challenge when people tell you that you can’t do something you have the right to do, you eventually will lose that right … We’re seeing attacks on First Amendment rights in the country right now, and that is one of the reasons why people really need to make a point of saying, ‘No, I’m going to show up and do this thing because it is my right.’”
For Neubauer, protests like No Kings are not just about opposition, but also about participation. She said democracy is dependent on people showing up, speaking out and holding their leaders accountable.
“Criticizing the government is actually a very patriotic act. It is trying to get the government to uphold its ideals and to be better,” Neubauer said. “I think that’s very American, this idea that we can always be better. We have very high-flown ideals, and we have never fully lived up to them, but we have got to keep trying.”
