- Michiganders objecting to President Donald Trump’s administration demonstrated across the state Saturday
- While Trump supporters appeared to counter-protest some events, the rallies were largely peaceful
- Democrats and liberal organizers hope to convert the grassroots enthusiasm into political action. Republicans criticized the events
GLADWIN — Protesters gathered in large numbers throughout Michigan for the second nationwide “No Kings Day” events, increasingly large demonstrations aimed at mobilizing opposition to President Donald Trump.
Thousands lined the streets of cities from Detroit to Grand Rapids, to Ferndale and Traverse City, along with smaller cities like Gladwin, which was among more than 100 Michigan locations with planned events.
In signs, chants and speeches, demonstrators accused Trump of facism, autocracy and corruption. Michiganders outraged by his administration demanded Trump’s resignation or, as one crowd chanted in Lansing, jailing.
“People are more outraged every day by what’s going on,” said Mary Force, who organized the rally in Gladwin, a city of about 3,000 nestled in the heart of Michigan’s farm country, where about 150 protesters gathered, cheering at honks but fielding some jeers as well.
Republicans dismissed the events as “anti-American.” US Rep. Lisa McClain, a Bruce Township Republican and Trump ally, posted a photo on X of the president in royal regalia, writing, “terrify a leftist today.”
Democrats in some parts of the state have seized on the moment as an organizing opportunity. Duane Miller, the chair of the Gladwin County Democratic Party, said that at the beginning of the year, he had 12 dues-paying members, but now the local party has 83.
“We are growing fast,” he told Bridge Michigan. They stand at the same downtown corner every month to drum up support.
Gladwin is a conservative county where Trump won 70% of the vote in 2024, and the local Republican Party organized a counterprotest across the street.
Rob Cortis, who gained notoriety for his “Trump unity bridge,” drove past in an ambulance, blaring the loudspeaker at protesters. Gladwin County Republican Party Chair Mary Maylan accused Democrats of “stirring up hatred, division and misinformation.”
The rallies were largely peaceful, however.
Donna Henderson, a 75-year-old Gladwin resident, said she only recently became politically active, motivated first by mass government firings, and now by what she views as an administration out to “get anybody that’s not white.”
Rallies across the state had different organizers. In Gladwin, the Democratic party was directly involved. In Mt. Pleasant, the liberal grassroots group Indivisible orchestrated the event.
Micki Christiansen, with the Mt Pleasant-area Indivisible chapter, said attendees had plenty of reasons to attend.
“It’s anything from (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), seeing other cities stand up and protest, seeing the civil rights of Americans trampled … there’s so much stuff going on right now.” she said.
Christiansen and other attendees warily watched a group of three masked counterprotesters, who walked down the line of more than 1,500 protesters waving signs along one of the college town’s main thoroughfares.
One of the counterprotesters, Clarence Camp, brought a “deport illegals” sign of his own and said he had been shoved by another attendee. He told Bridge he showed up at the event “to show (Trump critics) they’re not the majority.” Another counterprotester told Bridge he was armed out of fear for political violence.
In Lansing, thousands of residents turned up for another rally on the Capitol lawn. Like a previous “No Kings” rally in June, the organizers made the event purposefully grassroots-oriented, and no elected officials spoke.
“We need more than just performative activism and symbolic displays,” James O’Banion, a Grand Rapids resident who helped emcee the Lansing rally, told attendees. “We need to take real action to make meaningful progress for the future.”
Obanian encouraged attendees to sign three different petitions, for ranked-choice voting, limiting utilities’ political spending and a tax increase on the wealthy to fund education spending. Other activists on the Capitol steps discussed immigration, the war in Gaza and implored attendees to sign on for a future general strike.
The No Kings organization estimated 7 million Americans demonstrated nationwide throughout the day.
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