No Kings II Rally: Turnout in Falls Church Exceeds June 14 Protest

In the bright sunshine, from Roosevelt St. to Haycock Rd., 2.2 miles across town east to west, even more jubilantly protesting, sign-waving, flag-carrying crowds stretched along the City’s main thoroughfare Broad Street than in the original June 14 No Kings Day Rally, according to rally organizers.

Saturday’s No Kings II protests in downtown Falls Church Oct. 18 were hailed as a turnout success by organizers, as perhaps over a thousand local ralliers joined an estimated 7 million protesters in 2,700 local rallies across the nation – as well as other No Kings rallies around the world – to protest the Trump administration’s authoritarian initiatives since Donald J. Trump returned to the presidency for a second term as the 47th president in January, 2025. 

Two Falls Church political organizations, Democracy Falls Church (DFC) and Falls Church Indivisible (FCI) sponsored the day’s rally in The Little City, dividing their responsibilities between the east and west sides of Route 29, FCI to the west and DFC to the east. 

Protesters were encouraged to create posters with patriotic themes and to carry American flags to emphasize their support for America’s founding principles as a constitutional republic resistant to monarchy and tyranny and protective of the natural rights of the People. 

“Due Process, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of the Press, the Right to Protest, Judicial Independence, Academic Freedom, and Fair Elections are all under attack,” DFC declares on its website. A “passionate group of ordinary Americans dedicated to our Constitution and our community,” the DFC shares a “collective commitment to democracy and the rule of law.” The group, therefore, “seeks to empower everyday Americans to fight back and save our democracy.”

While FCI declares on its website: “We believe in the promise of OUR flag, the flag that: in the 18th century, defeated monarchy, in the 19th century, defeated slavery, [and] in the 20th century, defeated fascism. This flag will defeat fascism again in the 21st century. Join us if you want to preserve American Democracy, protecting your family, neighbors, and country from Trump's concerted assault.... Democracy is in grave peril but non-violent political movements have always succeeded when enough people rise up. We will win!”

Amid the cacophony of chanting protesters and blaring vehicle horns, The Falls Church Independent circulated through the crowds and spoke with protesters, rally marshals, and protest organizers. 

Following recent protests against National Guard mobilization in Portland, Oregon, cartoonish inflatable costumes used to avoid facial surveillance as well as to ridicule excessive shows of governmental force were seen sported by many puffed up protesters. Sadly, however, many ralliers in Falls Church on Saturday appeared less inclined than before to reveal their names or have their faces photographed, seemingly out of fear of retribution from the Trump administration or its allies. 

At the organizational tent for DFC, in the parking lot of The Falls Church Episcopal, we spoke with rally organizer Ben Allard. Asked how he felt about the day’s events, he said, “I feel really good. We weren’t totally sure what to expect in terms of today’s turnout. A lot of people, I think, are scared to sign up for things right now because of the federal crackdown on free speech.”

“Our combined goal – Democracy Falls Church and Falls Church Indivisible – was to get more people than we got last time in June and to stretch from Roosevelt Street on the east side to Giant at Haycock on the west side. And it looks like we did it,” Allard said. “We got more people and kind of stretched through the City and it feels amazing to actually see it happen.”

Perhaps due to fear, however, advanced sign-ups for the rally were much lower than actual turnout. “The sign-ups were way down compared to the actual number of people who showed up, like maybe a third of the actual people who showed up actually signed up [earlier] online,” Allard said. Fortunately, he added, DFC’s mailing list is growing. “That’s going pretty well…. They always grow after these types of events.”

What drew Allard into the No Kings movement in the first place? “I don’t think there’s a choice,” he responded immediately. “I think in 2017, I did a lot more electoral stuff to kind of push back, but now I don’t think that’s enough. After Biden, I felt like, ‘Mission accomplished. Now maybe we all can relax a little bit.’ But, clearly that turned out not to be true. And now it just feels like every single person who cares about democracy needs to get into the movement and get into the fight and start really busting their ass, because it seems like all the people who really don’t believe in democracy are working really hard. And they have all the institutional power. Whether it’s the billionaires who control every social media and most major media companies now, or if it’s all levers of government, or encroaching on states' powers and their independence – People Power is the only way we’re going to be able to get out of this and I just want to be part of that.”

Allard’s advice to others alarmed by the Trump administration’s anti-democratic moves? “If you come to these protests, keep showing up afterwards. Find your local Indivisible chapter, find your local Mutual Aid group, find your local ICE Watch or Migrant Solidarity group, especially right now. ICE is the biggest threat to our democracy. It’s the biggest threat to our civil rights. It’s the biggest threat to the rule of law.... Don’t wait for the next protest. Do that today or tomorrow.”

About FCI, Allard added, “They’re amazing. They’re always amazing.”

At DFC’s organizational tent, we also encountered rally organizer Louise Hilsen. She showed us a stack of signs “hand-painted by a furloughed federal employee” who feared being directly associated with the protests. “I think, for myself, I didn’t sign up [today] because I don’t want my name to show up on any list and I don’t trust this government not to misuse that kind of public information,” Hillsen said. But the anonymous sign-maker did “put out a lot of these signs and you’ll see them all over today’s protests.”

Of the protesters who did turn up, Hillsen sang deep praises. “You know what? It’s an act of courage,” she said. “There’s strength in numbers. And, I think it’s a great sign that people are willing to come out and show up. And time will tell. The numbers are growing. What I love is that it seems like we’ve had more families and young people than last time… And, last time we were covering less real estate, though it was pretty thick. But, we did a drive.... [and the rally] covers many more blocks and there was a lot of enthusiasm. And you know, if I were a Kennedy, I would say, ‘You count the number of nuns and you multiply by 12.’ [Laughs]. 

Rally organizer Lisa Margarella described how she was first motivated to join the No Kings movement. “I saw a little article in the newspaper and it was Ben [Allard], wanting like-minded people to just come out and to separate fact from fiction. And when we started, it was just a few people and he asked, ‘What are you worried about?’ And we all said, ‘Everything!’ There were just too many things that were upsetting to us. But I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing.... And our group [DFC] is just super nice. A great community of people. And just even participating, making signs for people, making buttons for people, giving things out, just making sure people know what’s happening and they have a voice, that’s what I find really important.”

Asked what worries her the most in today’s news, Margarella said, “My biggest concern is us all losing our rights. And I think the first thing that’s been happening is the loss of integrity in the press. I mean, you watch the news and so much of it isn’t even real. So it’s hard to figure out what is real and what’s not real…. I think people don’t even understand they’re being brainwashed in some senses. And people who aren’t brainwashed are like, ‘Why can’t you see this is not right?’”

“I know it’s a scary time and people are afraid to have their faces out there,” Margarella said, “But we have to. We have to.”

Along Broad Street we were kindly offered a bottle of water from a table staffed by DFC Rally Marshals Sally Brett, Lauren Budetti, and former City Council member Marty Meserve. They also offered mini copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny which describes the historic danger signs of the slide toward authoritarian rule. “We’ve run out of flags, buttons, and stickers,” they said energetically.

Asked why she stepped up to serve as a rally marshal, Brett said without hesitation, “Because I love my country and I hate to see it being destroyed by greed and vengeance.”

Budetti chimed in, “I’m very, very concerned about what’s going on with the loss of democracy, the loss of rights, the loss of employment for people. It’s just very, very, very concerning.” In addition to her worries about the abuse of prosecutorial powers at the Department of Justice, she added “I have contact with the Department of Education and U.S. [Agency for International Development] AID and it’s just very tragic to see what’s happened…. Friends of mine have children who’ve lost their jobs.”

Brett agreed wholeheartedly about the dismantling of U.S. AID. Though the U.S. has not always acted positively on the world stage, she said, U.S. AID has always served as an inspiration around the world for American humanitarian assistance. “We’ve been involved in so many positive ways. My friends who worked with U.S. AID were doing climate change problems in Tanzania, they were doing maternal child health in Peru. When you help other countries to understand that you can do good, then other countries don’t fear us and they work with us. But now, internationally, I think people are just looking at us with horror and saying, 'What has happened?’ And, it’s a question I ask myself every day.”

Brett also highlighted federal government layoffs and recent denials of legal rights as spurs to her activism. “Even though I’m retired and I don’t ‘depend on a job,’ that doesn’t mean I’m not affected. And, when you take away somebody’s due process rights, you take away everybody’s due process rights.”

Budetti also wanted folks to know that FCI “does flag-waving and signs on Friday morning from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. on Washington and Broad [Streets] and…. they hang [signs] over the bridge on [Route] 66.”

With their protest signs, mom Didi from Arlington, Va., and her high school-aged daughter Ella, and Ella’s friend, classmate Hannah, [last names not provided] were moving toward Broad Street when we asked to chat. With seeming reluctance, Didi agreed. 

Asked what brought her out to the protest, Ella said, “So, I’ve never protested before, but I was inspired to make a sign and come out. My sign says, ‘Love Wins.’ And it was just a nice way – I got to see Hannah – but I also got to protest for like things I believe in.” 

Is love being threatened by the Trump White House, we asked? “I think it can be, especially for LGBTQ,” Ella said.  

And what moved Hannah to participate? “I’ve protested before, like back when Trump was in office the first term,” Hannah said with confidence. “And I went to D.C. and my mom and the rest of my family are in D.C. right now [for the No Kings II rally in the nation’s capital] but I have something later in the day that I have to go to. But I think for me, I see everything that’s falling apart and it makes me really sad. I don’t want future generations to have to live with what we’re going through right now.”

Asked what sorts of things Hannah has seen “falling apart,” she said “Everything. My dad, he’s gotten laid off because of work…. He builds stuff for the government. And all of my friends’ parents – a lot of them have been affected because of the government shutdown and stuff. And just seeing all the people who need help and are not getting the help they need, because the rich are just getting richer.”

Hannah then showed us her sign declaring, “Hate doesn’t make us great.” 

Didi then spoke up, saying, “I’m here because I have concerns about illegal activities going on in the government and the lack of truth in the media.” She tries to balance the news she absorbs by looking at a variety of sources on both sides of the political divide. 

Didi’s sign reads, “We are not the enemy.” "Why did you write that?," we asked. “So, we were called the ‘enemy’ by the White House. The White House said we are ‘the enemy’ and ‘terrorists’ and we are not, especially not here at the Falls Church Episcopal,” Didi said.

Finally, we encountered Anne Lancaster along Broad Street, carrying a sign saying, “Reject the Fascist Takeover” on one side and "We Shall Overcome" on the other. Interestingly, Lancaster’s deep Virginia roots extending to the founding of Jamestown in 1619 inform her constitutional principles. “My family is actually related to James Madison,” she said. And now, the Trump White House is just “running over all the court rulings and doing things that are just contrary to the Constitution,” Lancaster said.

“All you have to do is open your eyes,” Lancaster said. “I mean, Trump bombing the boats in Venezuela. It’s just crazy. And trying to put the National Guard in cities when the police there [already] have control and they know how to handle crowds, while ICE and others don’t…. Plus everything they’re taking away. I mean, I worked with the federal government for years and [Trump’s] just dismantling it. I had a signed contract with [the Department of Health and Human Services] HHS and the whole division was eliminated.” 

What does Lancaster think of the current Secretary of HHS, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.? “Yeah, he has crazy ideas,” she said. “He doesn’t have any sort of medical training and he’s making up stuff, and dismantling the [Centers for Disease Control] CDC. The whole thing’s crazy. It’s just unbelievable. And it gets worse everyday.”

Here are more photos from the rally:

By Christopher Jones