Hundreds show up to No Kings protests in Tacoma. We asked them why
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- Hundreds of Tacoma residents protested Trump policies across five Pierce County sites.
- Protesters cited threats to rights, immigration actions and erosion of democracy.
- Participants ranged from children to octogenarians, using costumes and signs.
Hundreds of Tacomans took to the streets Saturday as part of another national No Kings Protest, a pushback to what many protestors see as an overreach of authority from the Trump administration. Many people wore inflatable costumes and carried homemade signs denouncing President Donald Trump, immigration authorities and members of Trump’s administration.
At least five protests were scheduled around Pierce County Saturday afternoon, including groups at Point Defiance in Tacoma, Steward Heights Park in Eastside Tacoma, Puyallup, Lakewood and Gig Harbor, as previously reported by The News Tribune.
We asked a handful of people who lined North Pearl Street by Point Defiance why they thought it was important to show up on Saturday. Here’s what they said.
University Place couple David (age 64) and Marissa Falcon (age 56) brought their parakeet Korita in a travel carrier as they stood near The Defiant Goldfish Saturday afternoon. David said they were concerned “about what’s happening with the new administration right now — taking away our rights, dismantling the Constitution slowly but surely, [targeting] gay people, the military.”
David said he believes the Trump administration is “dismantling everything” and “going after political” opponents, while billionaires hoard most of the country’s wealth. A 23-year veteran himself, David said, he knows of other veterans who have had to rely on food banks to survive.
“I’m very impressed that people are responding. They see the urgency that’s going on right now,” he said, gesturing to the hundreds of others nearby. “If we don’t protest now, we’re going to be down later.”
Tacoma couple Jake and Jenelle were at Point Defiance with Jenelle’s sister, Ashleigh (who is from Seattle). The group declined to provide their last names, citing fear of being doxxed, or their privacy compromised for speaking out about the current administration. Jake was dressed in an inflatable sailfish costume, Jenelle as an inflatable lobster and Ashleigh as an inflatable squid. Jake and Jenelle are in their 30s and Ashleigh is in her early 40s.
Jake said the group bought inflatable costumes for the protest after seeing residents don them in Portland as they protested Trump’s efforts to send National Guard troops to “protect War ravaged Portland.”
“Really, it was such a genius branding move from them down there,” he said. “[They] claim it’s these scary Antifa people all wearing black trying to cause all this chaos and stuff, [but the costumes] really highlights the ridiculousness of what they’re trying to claim that we’re out here doing, when we’re just out here trying to exercise our right to free speech and protest and show that we don’t agree with what’s going on in the world.”
Ashleigh said, “with everything horrible going on, I think it can be discouraging” to get involved, “but this is actually, like, a really empowering and kind of a happy environment.”
“I think, power in numbers, right?” Ashleigh said. “I think the government has made it apparent that they are not for everyone, and it seems to be very much one-sided as of lately, and I think that democracy is eroding underneath of us. People aren’t afforded their constitutional rights. People aren’t afforded due process, and so I think it’s just really important to be visible and to stand up for those things.”
Tacoma resident Axario O. (age 36) came out to the protest with resident Andrew C. (age 42) to stand up against the Trump administration. Both declined to share their full last names out of concerns for their privacy.
“I am the queer, trans-feminine grandchild of immigrants, and I don’t think there’s any way that I cannot go ahead and be out here today, just for all the things that we’re standing for,” Axario said. “Obviously it’s terrible what’s happening with ICE and the terrible deportation of people. I’m here to support trans rights, I’m here to support women’s rights, I’m here to support Black people’s rights. I’m here to support immigrant rights. I am the crosshairs of all of it, so for me to not show up, I feel like would be a betrayal of myself.”
Andrew said media outlets have been complicit in “doing this both-sidesism” and downplaying things politicians say.
“I feel like a lot of what the news outlets are trying to do is make us feel small and make us feel like we don’t matter, and make us feel like we’re out here by ourselves,” Axario said. “But now everybody else is out here for the same thing. Everybody agrees that trying to go ahead and create a Christian nationalist fascist state is the wrong move.”
Tacoma residents Ryan (age 42) and Sarah Mulligan (age 45) thought it was important to bring their 6 and 8-year-old to the rally to teach them how to stand up for what they believe in.
“We’re here to protest, like everyone else, for democracy, to fight for democracy and our freedoms that are being taken,” Ryan said. “Absolute power for one person is not what America is about. And we want to help bring power back to the people.”
As a woman and as a mother, Sarah said she wants to stop the suppression of free speech.
“It was our first amendment to the Constitution, and it’s the one thing he’s trying to silence, and that makes Mommy mad. Just as a woman with children, I want my kids to grow up in a non-fascist world,” she said. “I absolutely think we’re heading into Christian fascism, white nationalism. It’s resurging and it’s disgusting. The middle class is just getting eaten up, our most vulnerable are being attacked. It just makes me so angry.”
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Saturday was 81-year-old Stine Armstrong’s first protest. Armstrong, a Tacoma resident, said it was important for her to attend with her 14-year-old grandson to stand up for his future.
“This is important. This is for my grandson’s future. Trump’s got to go. He has got to go. He has lost his ever-loving mind. The Constitution has to stand,” she said. “He’s talking about Antifa, nothing but Antifa people going to be out here. I’m not Antifa. … This is about the citizens of the United States. We will not let our democracy perish, and we’re here to support it and to show Trump he’s not going to destroy our Constitution and our America. We are here to stand up for our rights.”
Gig Harbor
Crowds turned out Saturday for the No Kings protest at the intersection of Point Fosdick and Olympic Drive in Gig Harbor.
Kay Drescher, who said she lived in the area, was part of the crowd. She said this was the third protest for her to attend this year, after Port Orchard and a No Ice rally in Silverdale. She said her sign was her message and reason for attending: “Love not hate makes America great.” Others in attendance wore inflatable animal costumes, while many others waved American flags along with their signs.
This story was originally published October 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM.
