Photo and story credit Kenneth Wajda www.kennethwajdaphotographer.com

April 19, 1775 is when the battles of Lexington and Concord started the American Revolution–America’s war against the British King and monarchical power.

Exactly 250 years later, on Saturday, April 19, 2025, Longmont’s downtown was the site of the No Kings! rally, a national civic uprising against the Trump administration’s overreach and movement toward authoritarian power.

Organized by the group Indivisible, No Kings! is a nationwide protest in support of democracy and the US Constitution. It was formed as a response to the Trump administration which has illegally defied court orders, unlawfully terminated federal employees and is working to replace career federal employees with political loyalists, is reshaping the executive branch to push the bounds of executive authority, has deported legal residents without due process, obstructed women’s rights, LGTBQ+, and minorities’ rights, as well as threatened freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Photo and story credit Kenneth Wajda www.kennethwajdaphotographer.com

Ron Cole, of Longmont Colorado, stood at the intersection of 6th and Main Street holding a sign that read, “Bring Him Home!,” regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s erroneous deportation to an an El Salvador prison (CECOT) without due process. “I feel that this is the least we can do and we need to bring this poor guy home.”

Police estimated the crowd at well over 1000 with people lining several blocks of Main Street, and one officer said he estimated the turnout larger than the previous April 5th Hands Off protest. If so, that could swell it to 2,500.

Protestors carried signs with various messages including, “Make America Smart Again” and “No Kings, No Fascists, No Tyrants, No Nazis.” Traffic moving up and down Main Street was mostly positive with many drivers honking horns and offering supportive thumbs up, though there was the occasional Trump flag or thumbs down gesture.

Photo and story credit Kenneth Wajda www.kennethwajdaphotographer.com

Jon Giltner of Longmont also attended the rally and carried an American Flag. He said, “I had two brothers that served in World War II. There is no way they would support what this administration is doing.”

Photo and story credit Kenneth Wajda www.kennethwajdaphotographer.com

Photo and story credit Kenneth Wajda www.kennethwajdaphotographer.com

The publisher, Shavonne Blades, also attended the rally in Pittsburgh, PA. The crowd was about 1,000 when we arrived, and by the time the March started appeared to be more than double that.

Photos by Shavonne Blades, Pittsburgh, PA 04-19-2025

photos by Shavonne Blades, Pittsburgh, PA

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