Several “No Kings” rallies took over parts of Pittsburgh and beyond on Oct. 18, with an estimated 2,300 total rallies throughout the country with thousands of people participating in both the Downtown demonstration and one in Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side.
According to organizers for both protests, the goal of “No Kings” is to speak out against President Donald Trump, his administration and its actions, including instances where the White House refers to Trump as a king. In response, the rallies, which were peaceful and had no reported acts of violence, were deemed as “anti-America” rallies by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
The “No Kings” rally at the City-County building was organized by Indivisible PGH, with the demonstration in Allegheny Commons Park by “50501,” the same organization responsible for the “remove, reverse, reclaim” rally in Schenley Plaza on April 5. According to organizers for both protests, the goal of “no kings” is to speak out against the Trump administration and its actions.
Corey O’Connor, Pittsburgh’s Democratic mayoral nominee, who was present at the Downtown rally, said “No Kings” is an example of what’s possible when people show up.
“As a candidate for office to hopefully represent the whole city, I have to have the voice of the people and stand up and say why Pittsburgh’s different,” O’Connor said.
Guest speakers from various political organizations were present at both rallies. Local government officials, such as Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Rep. Summer Lee, were present at the Downtown rally. On the Northside, organizations such as Robert Morris University Democrats and Pitt Democrats were present, with government officials supporting the cause also showing out at the rally.
Emily Kinkead, the Pa. state rep. for the 20th district, remarked on the crowd being peaceful, not being filled with what she called terrorists and criminals — in reference to responses to the “No Kings” rallies at the federal level.
Several in attendance at both locations were in inflatable costumes — mostly unicorns and frogs — in reference to anti-ICE demonstrators in Portland doing the same. Additionally, hundreds of participants took the opportunity to bring signs in support of “No Kings” and against Trump, ICE and other talking points on the right.
One man, who was dressed in a banana costume and only wanted to be referred to as “Mr. Banana,” said he loves the U.S. constitution and wants to protect it and the country.
“I love what our country stands for, and we’re straying away from that,” he said. “I would love to have us come back to it again.”
Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)’s Pennsylvania chapter, was present at both rallies and made a note on his organization’s efforts against the Trump administration while speaking at both rallies.
“We’ve sued the Trump administration over 90 times, and we are just getting started,” Walczak said.
Additionally, Walczak referenced other large-scale demonstrations which took place in Pittsburgh when talking about peaceful dissent, such as the G20 protests and Students for Justice in Palestine on Pitt’s campus.
Only one counter-protester was visible at the Downtown demonstration, who was holding a megaphone with money symbols on it. Nearly everything the counter-protester said was drowned out by the crowd and ignored. The demonstration at Allegheny Commons Park had no visible counter-protesters.
