At ‘No Kings’ rallies across New Hampshire, crowds protest Trump administration, war in Iran

To sum up what brought her out to Lincoln’s Main Street for the ‘No Kings’ protest on Saturday, Karen Cote just pointed to her granddaughter.

“Doesn’t that say it all?” said the Ellsworth resident, fighting emotion.

“Reminder,” read her hand-painted sign referencing the Jeffrey Epstein files, “they were little girls.”

Another grandmother, Janet Adams, a former middle school science teacher from Woodstock, said she was also present because of concern for the young people in her life. At 74, she said, this was her first rally. But she was frustrated with what she saw as a lack of progress, and cited the Iran war and “hate” in national politics as part of what made her concerned for the futures of her 10 grandchildren.

“You want to leave a better world for them,” she said.

In Lincoln and other New Hampshire towns from the North Country to the Seacoast, rallies took shape throughout the day on Saturday. Protesters joined others across the country, where more than 3,000 events were planned, according to organizers of the national No Kings movement.

The protests come one year and two months into President Donald Trump’s second term. At several demonstrations in New Hampshire, protesters cited Trump’s immigration agenda, including aggressive and deadly tactics used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents; high health care costs; the president’s ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; the war in Iran; and concern for the environment among the reasons they said they were demonstrating.

Lincoln demonstrators call for peace, safety net

In downtown Lincoln, where the foothills of the White Mountains are visible just past Main Street, Ellen Broderick kept an eye on the crowd and waved to passing cars as a volunteer marshal. 

“The vast majority of responses are like this,” she said, turning to wave at a car whose driver was leaning on the horn. Broderick said she saw injustice and violence from the federal government and hoped more people would begin to take action.

“When you start to shoot innocent people and take children away from their families, or parents away from their children, for really no good reason, I think people have said, ‘that’s enough,'” she said. 

Pat Parker, who attended with her daughter, also said she felt the federal government had overstepped its authority.

“With ICE too, going in and killing people, like, what the hell’s going on here?” she said. “… People need to wake up because it’s very scary, what’s going on. It’s very insidious.”

While cars honked and the demonstration stretched out along Main Street, a few dissenters passed through, too — including a pair of individuals who carried a Confederate flag onto the roof of a nearby home and began to wave it. 

But Grace Garvey, an event coordinator and founding member of Central New Hampshire Indivisible, which helped organize the event, said she was encouraged by the event’s attendance and the attitudes of the No Kings demonstrators.

‘It’s getting scary to live here’: Protesters gather in Nashua

In Nashua, hundreds of people showed up at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and surrounding streets for the third No Kings protest. As protesters with signs on crowded streets, dozens of cars drove by and honked in support of the cause. 

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Despite colder temperatures than the last protest, organizers believed at least 2,000 people were in attendance. U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, as well as New Hampshire state legislators for Nashua, also made an appearance. 

Jennifer Leone, of Litchfield, and friends sat in lawn chairs for the protest. When asked why she came, Leone said: “[Trump] is an absolutely despicable human being. … He’s just absolutely, in every regard, unacceptable.”

Marcella Dube donned a frog suit to stay warm and be disarming. As a resident of Amherst and member of Moms Demand Action, Dube said she protests to support others who do, too. 

“It’s getting scary to live here, and I think the more people that come out, the more we do this, it makes a difference,” she said.

John Cote of Hollis held up an upside-down American flag. He said it is to show that the United States “is in distress.” 

“I respect the flag, people fought for it, but our country needs help,” he said. 

Seacoast: ‘Alarmed, frightened, and embarrassed’

On the Seacoast, hundreds lined the streets surrounding Portsmouth’s Market Square.

Katie Jarvis, a retired teacher from Rye, said she’s been to every protest in the area since Trump was inaugurated.

“I am alarmed, frightened, and embarrassed right now to be an American citizen,” she said. “I think the way rights, the rule of law has been tossed out, whether it’s an immigrant or a citizen, that the administration is trying to intimidate people.”

She said she’s concerned about how many law firms, universities, and others have caved to Trump’s demands, as well as the rise of Christian nationalism, pushback against DEI efforts, and potential loss of women’s rights.

‘I believe that I’m on the front lines’

Downtown Concord, with the State House lawn serving as a natural meeting point, is often the epicenter of protest activities in New Hampshire.

Saturday’s crowd began to form about an hour before the official noon start to the rally. By early afternoon, protesters filled State House plaza and stretched along both sides of North Main Street. As The Good Trouble Band played anthems from an earlier era, capped by Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction,” the sound of blaring car horns swelled steadily with the throng.

Among the early arrivals was Kevin Corson, a mason from Concord whose work truck bears the message “Build homes not bombs.” Corson’s presence downtown on Saturday morning was in part to show support for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Karishma Manzur but also reflects what he considers a deeper obligation.

“I’m a Muslim, but I’m American also, right? So I was born and raised here in America, and I don’t just represent Muslims but I represent Americans. And so I believe that I’m on the front lines, like, it’s my responsibility and obligation as an American to try to change the system that we have.”

As sign after sign, chant after chant, cheer after cheer attested — from Concord to Lincoln, Nashua to Portsmouth, and beyond — he’s not alone.