Tattnall Square Park was host to a “No Kings” protest on Saturday morning, drawing more than 300 people to the intersection of Oglethorpe and College Street, less than a quarter-mile from campus. The protest was one of thousands of such demonstrations held this weekend, including in Atlanta and Albany, Ga. In the days leading up to Saturday, a website amalgamated “No Kings” rallies around the country, though the event in Macon was not listed earlier this week.
Among the hundreds of protestors, dozens carried an American flag and many held up handmade signs that called out the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and President Donald Trump, and that likened the Trump administration to a fascist regime.
This weekend marks the second major round of demonstrations against the administration and what the protestors say are despotic actions coming from the White House.
“It’s really more a question of what issues are not showing, right, it’s an assault on all fronts,” John Reichert said. “Some of the more grievous ones are the lack of due process and the way that ICE is acting like a secret police force with impunity.”
Reichert, a local carpenter who wore a shirt for New York State Representative and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, said that his brother lost his job with USAID as a result of the federal government’s funding freeze for the department. While the department, which was responsible for shuttling foreign aid to countries around the world, still exists on paper, it was effectively sunsetted this summer. He added that his sister-in-law works at the CDC, but that she has so far escaped the layoffs at the Atlanta-based health center.
Julie Colton ‘28, a media studies major and political science minor at Mercer, is the co-chair of the Middle Georgia Democratic Socialists of America.
“It is absolutely disgusting the way that they are treating our immigrants, our trans neighbors and friends, and we are absolutely sick of it,” Colton said. “We are so glad to see this bursting of community support on three days’ notice.”
As the protestors chanted and waved their flags, multiple cars drove by, honking to show their support. Some motorists had flags of their own while others slowed down to take photos of the sidewalks flooded with the demonstrators.
Standing on a crosswalk median, Legacee Medina led the crowd in call-and-answer chants using a megaphone. Among others, a mantra of “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here” was repeated before a Spanish chant broke out. At least one participant had a Mexican flag draped over his shoulders. The vocal support for immigrants in the country comes on the same day that Macon’s Hispanic Heritage Festival is taking place downtown despite nationwide crackdowns on Hispanic communities that have forced other organizers to scrap similar celebrations.
Colton added that, at first, she was surprised to see the amount of people who showed up “in the middle of Bible Belt-rural Georgia,” but that she believes that “everyone is so fed up with the system” that “they are finally seeing a hope for a better future in a way that I have not been around for before.”
For now, though, Colton said that she is facing the reality that, as a transgender woman, access to healthcare has become more restricted, and she noted that she had to pay $300 to legally change her name and likely will not be able to change her gender marker.
At least one driver gave a thumbs-down as they passed by, though there were no counter-protestors on the ground.
Colton said that she would not engage with the driver if they had come to the protest, although she said she would be “welcoming to anyone who has become disillusioned with the administration.”
Standing behind a line of protestors facing Alexander II elementary school, Artie Parker captured the faces of those in the crowd in her sketchbook. Parker, an artist originally from South Dakota, said that she has been to multiple “No Kings” rallies around the country, sketching the “movement” of the demonstrations.
“When I found out there was one happening here, I was like, ‘I need to come and show my support, this is what I believe in,’” Parker said.
Being there, she said, is “the most American thing. ‘No Kings,’ not now, not ever, but also, protesting is a great form of showing your democratic duty to your country. Whether you’re on the left or the right, we can all agree that no one should have unrestricted power in America.”
With more than three years left in Trump’s second term, Reichert was unsure if there was a solution to the issues that had sparked Saturday’s protest. He was also unsure if, when his term ends in January 2029, Trump would exit the White House, but he said he doesn’t think the administration will “continue as it is.”
“I think it’ll reach a breaking point where something will happen,” Reichert said. “Hopefully it’s peaceful, but these things often end in revolution.”
Gabriel Kopp '26 is double majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as Editor-in-Chief. When he isn't working on a Washington Post crossword, he enjoys going for runs around Macon and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
