As the Trump administration continues to usher in anti-democratic policies, turns federal agents against migrants and begins a crackdown on any resistance against his administration and its policies, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Michigan to join in the nationwide No Kings rallies.
More than 100 communities from southeast Michigan to the westernmost part of the U.P. joined in the show of might to advocate for civil rights, democracy and the rule of law. The protests were expected to attract millions of people nationwide to speak out against the Trump administration since he took office this year for a second term.
At Michigan’s Capitol building in Lansing, the show of resistance was palpable.
For over an hour before the official start to the event, people gathered on the Capitol lawn. Several demonstrators greeted their friends and family with hugs while taking pictures with rally signs. Over that hour, the size of the protest grew from a small crowd to a group that nearly reached the edges of the front lawn.
Like other protests against the administration documented earlier this month, many wore costumes, which ranged from various inflatable animal suits to robes from The Handmaid’s Tale. Security for the protest was pronounced, with several Michigan Department of State Police troopers in tactical gear and road patrol uniforms on the lookout for threats.
As the crowd grew, cars and trucks driving by honked in support throughout the event. Some waved flags, held up signs or played loud music, and most were met with cheers and applause from demonstrators along North Capitol Avenue.
Just before a series of speakers began, various songs of resistance played over the loud speakers, including “Holiday” by Green Day, which was met with cheers from the crowd.
Several signs identified demonstrators as veterans, teachers and union members. Some protestors spoke of their concerns about Trump’s narratives on free speech, including his claim that he has ended free speech over flag burning, and some expressed worries about detentions and deportations by ICE.
Others, especially older protestors, spoke about their fears for the future for younger generations – wanting their children and grandchildren to live in a country where they were free to protest.
“We must commit ourselves, each and every one of you, all the way back to the streets to never, ever [give up],” Lansing-based community activist Lorenzo Lopez said in one of several addresses at the event. “We have to continue to resist, and we must never, ever let this country become a dictatorship.”
Speaking directly to the administration’s use of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to terrorize the immigrant community and enact its sweeping mass deportation policies, Lopez said it amounted to human trafficking.
“My fellow Americans, the mass deportations are not deportations at all,” he said. “When people are [detained] without due process, that’s called kidnapping. When they are sent to another country against their will, that’s human trafficking.”
Lansing community activist Lorenzo Lopez speaks to the thousands of protesters gathered at the Michigan Capitol for one of several Michigan-based “No Kings” rallies, which were held simultaneously nationwide. Oct. 18., 2025. | Photo by Ben Solis/Michigan Advance
Throughout the speeches, chants of “Release the files” and “Lock him up” permeated the crowd, especially in reference to Trump’s felony convictions in early 2024.
The rally started at 3 p.m. and was scheduled to run until 6 p.m. However, impending poor weather and gloomy skies ended the event early. As one organizer put it in a final speech, those who have been paying attention to the excesses of the Trump administration and its authoritarian tendencies have heard all the complaints before.
Now, however, was a time for action. As the crowd moved away from the Capitol lawn, thousands marched east down Michigan Avenue. They continued to chant, saying: “Donald Trump has got to go.”
Cars and trucks driving through downtown Lansing continued to honk in support of the demonstrators who took to marching, a line of people that stretched across the bridge into the city’s Stadium District and beyond.
State Rep. Emily Dievendorf (D-Lansing) attended the rally in their district. They said it was a clear sign of solidarity and community building, and was bigger than the first No Kings rally held in June. With the Trump administration’s actions veering further into autocratic territory, the representative was also reflective on the moment, and the fight to retain the core tenets of the nation’s democratic values.
“If this isn’t a statement as to what we should do next, it is a statement that we have a community and we have resistance that is ready to push back,” Dievendorf said. “This rally was remarkable, in part, because the average person has reason to be afraid and to feel there might be consequences for dissenting right now. And yet we showed up anyway. I think that we’re starting to understand that silence is not going to get us out of this. The only way to fight fascism and to get our democracy back to a stable place is for us to have a united front in favor of rule of law and the Constitution.”
There were very few agitators or those launching counterprotests at the Lansing event, which ran counter to a warning from a GOP official who claimed there would be problems from left-wing trouble makers at the event. At least one report of a counterprotester showed a peace keeping unit ushering him out of the crowd with little resistance otherwise.
Oakland County GOP Chair Vance Patrick warned in a bizarre statement issued in a vague email that left-wing agitators were planning to infiltrate and derail protests in Michigan. He specifically called out the Democratic Socialists of America.
The political party was indeed there at the Lansing rally, one of several political party vendors at the event, simply talking to voters about the issues of the day.
Among them was Sam Nelson, co-chair of the Greater Lansing DSA. Nelson said the event was certainly about mobilization, but it wasn’t a strike or a show of civil disobedience.
“It’s about putting out the calls. Everyone can come out and stand with hundreds of thousands, even millions, across the country,” Nelson said. “Yes, this is a rally, and rallies are about as peaceful as you can get when it comes to political demonstration.”
Instead of drumming chaos that didn’t exist, Nelson posited that the GOP in Michigan should look inward and denounce the young Republican group chats that were recently unveiled in news reports, which showed young party organizers shared slurs and violent political rhetoric.
“Then they can talk about peaceful discourse,” Nelson said.
Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor and beyond
Rallies in other parts of the state also saw large crowds with thousands willing to exercise their rights to free speech while those rights still remain intact.
Among the larger No Kings rallies was at Roosevelt Park in southwest Detroit, where thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds began arriving just before 3 p.m., holding up signs in Spanish and English as they stepped out of their cars or buses, including “America has no kings,” or “No National Guard in Detroit.”
“The people united will never be defeated,” were one of the main chants heard around the crowd.
Demonstrators march down Michigan Avenue in Detroit after holding a No Kings rally at Roosevelt Park. Oct. 18, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), who is running for the U.S. Senate next year, applauded the courage of the protesters and told the Advance she hoped that more protests like this one will continue
“It is encouraging, I know protesting might be intimidating, but it is a good way to stand up and fight back. We have an opportunity to stay together and raise our voices against Donald Trump and his administration.”
After rallying at the park, demonstrators then peacefully marched down Michigan Avenue, although there was at least one arrest when a counter-protestor and supporter of President Trump, Andre Williams, 24, was taken into custody by Detroit Police after he followed No Kings marchers and reportedly began to scuffle with demonstrators and force his way into the crowd before being handcuffed and placed in a squad car.
Andre Williams, 24, a counter-protester and supporter of President Trump is taken into custody by Detroit Police after he followed No Kings marchers in Detroit from their rally site at Roosevelt Park to Downtown Detroit. He reportedly began to scuffle with demonstrators and force his way into the crowd before being handcuffed and placed in a squad car. Oct. 18, 2025 | Photo by Erick Diaz Veliz/Michigan Advance
At the Ann Arbor demonstration, resident Angela Williams, 91, sat among the several hundred demonstrators at Veterans Park and told the Advance that while she had lived through many turbulent times, this felt different.
“I have feared for our democracy before, but I’ve always felt that the three branches of government were independent. And now I’m very disturbed by the lack of independence,” Williams said.
Ann Arbor resident Angela Williams, 91, at the No Kings rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Oct. 18, 2025 | Photo by Jon King/Michigan Advance
In Flint, among the several thousand demonstrators who turned out to the city’s No Kings rally was former U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint), who told the Advance the crowd itself stood as a rejection of the characterization from Trump and his administration that participants were violent extremists.
“This is dissent. This is a group of people who are just everyday citizens. I’ve run into people that I went to elementary school with, not people that I’ve met along the path of political activism that has defined my work until now, but people that I haven’t seen for years, neighbors, old friends. These are citizens.”
Michigan Advance Editor-in-Chief Jon King and Freelance Reporter Erick Diaz Veliz contributed to this story.
