Thousands of demonstrators turned out for the “No Kings” protest at Cincinnati’s Smale Riverfront Park Saturday, organized by 50501 Cincinnati.
The protest, which was one of thousands across the United States, took aim at perceived autocratic behavior from President Donald Trump, particularly his use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) to carry out his mass deportation goals.
Timothy Snyder is a historian, author and professor at Yale University and the University of Toronto, and he also serves on the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Snyder was among the protest’s speakers, along with embattled Cincinnati imam Ayman Soliman and Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region CEO Nan Whaley.
“A king is someone who tries to rule by way of violence and fear,” Snyder said. “Do you want the armed forces and our police to be the personal servants of a tyrant?”
Organizers estimate around 7 million people participated in around 2,500 protests across the country on Saturday. This number outweighs turnout for the first “No Kings” rally in June, which organizers estimate drew around 5 million nationally. In Cincinnati, the June “No Kings” protest drew an estimated 8,000 people to march through Clifton, but organizers estimate between 10-12,000 attended the protest on Saturday.
CityBeat used online mapping tools to conservatively estimate around 10,000 people attended Saturday’s protest at Smale Park. Data from Strength In Numbers, partnered with independent Atlanta-based science newsroom The Xylom, contains upper estimates of 12,000 overall attendees. Overall, Strength In Numbers puts the upper estimate nationwide around 6.5 million, which would make it the largest single-day political protest in U.S. history.
Professor David Niven studies and teaches political science at the University of Cincinnati, specializing in elections. He told CityBeat that these numbers are even more telling when you consider the timing.
“It’s not election season; it’s not a typical political moment, but there’s a bubbling over of political disappointment and really human disappointment beyond politics,” he said. “The folks at these protests were not hyper-focused on city elections or, you know, whatever the next political event was. They just wanted to be seen and heard, and I think one of the most important things they do at these events is tell the rest of the nation, it’s not just you who thinks this is crazy.”
Stephen Finke told CityBeat there were “too many reasons” he showed up to Smale Park wearing a cardboard crown with the word “shame” carved out.
“I was looking for the most efficient way, the easiest way, to express how I feel,” Finke said.
Trump expressed how he felt about Saturday’s sweeping protests with a post to his own Truth Social platform: an AI-generated video of Trump flying a fighter jet over protesters, dumping what appears to be poop on the crowds, all while wearing a crown.
“The idea that Trump would tout his capacity to defecate on the nation, I think I can say with confidence, is without precedent,” Niven said. “That’s one of the defining moments and one of the defining aspects of Trump is to deny the humanity of anyone who disagrees or inconveniences him.”
Keep scrolling for photos from the Oct. 18 “No Kings” protest at Cincinnati’s Smale Riverfront Park on The Banks.
Photos by Emily Widman
