Charlotte ‘No Kings’ march packed with anti-Trump chants, signs, boisterous crowds
Chanting “No kings! No thrones! No crowns!,” crowds of protesters packed an uptown Charlotte park Saturday to blast President Donald Trump on his birthday, the day of his Washington, D.C., military parade.
The three-hour “No Kings” rally and march drew an estimated 5,500 people to uptown, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said on social media. CMPD also used pepper spray on a smaller group of people who were marching after the official end of the rally, and made two arrests.
Demonstrations here and across the country coincided with Flag Day and a military parade in Washington, D.C., by President Donald Trump on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. Saturday also was Trump’s 79th birthday. At least six other protests occurred around the Charlotte region, from Monroe to Rock Hill.
“We have to keep what our foremothers and forefathers fought for,” Jane Whitley, 68, head of the Democratic Women of Mecklenburg County, said moments before the rally.
The Charlotte crowd included a mix of younger and older protesters who came from across the state. Young supporters wrapped Mexican and Nicaraguan flags around their necks like capes.
CMPD makes 2 arrests, uses pepper spray at Charlotte march
Police said there were “no major incidents” during the march, and that they made two arrests.
In a news release issued online around 6 p.m. Saturday, CMPD said that about 200 people remained in uptown marching after the rally officially ended at around 2 p.m., and that they were not affiliated with the event organizers. Authorities did not indicate how they knew that.
During that later march, CMPD arrested two people on charges of assault on a law enforcement officer. No officers were injured, CMPD said.
Soon after the second arrest, CMPD said it used oleoresin capsicum spray — commonly referred to as pepper spray — “to gain compliance.” Authorities said they used the spray because people in the groups were “aggressing on officers and physically pushing up against them.“
CMPD also said the spray was needed to prevent the group from going on a road that had not been closed.
Video on X about the incident showed a woman grimacing in pain as she returned to other protesters after being sprayed in the face at about 3:30 p.m. Other protesters splashed water in their eyes and cursed police, who were standing in a row in front of their bikes, the video showed.
Medic took one person to a local hospital for exposure to the spray, CMPD said.
CMPD did not respond to messages for a request for comment from The Charlotte Observer.
Marching down Brevard Street
Earlier, around 12:20 p.m., supporters filled North Brevard Street for the start of the march, chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” and “This is what democracy looks like!”
Monroe resident Edgar Ocampo, 21, said he hoped to show immigrants they aren’t alone, calling them the “backbone” of the country. “No fear,” marchers chanted. “No hate. No ICE in our state.”
Some protesters held posters in one hand and pushed strollers or gripped their dogs’ leashes with the other. Two men with bongos kept the beat of the crowd’s “No kings!” chants.
Carolyn Eberly, founding director of Indivisible Charlotte, led the audience through the chant. A Trump impersonator on the stage, draped in red regalia and fanning a stack of faux money, scowled in mock outrage, to the crowd’s delight.
No uniformed CMPD officers were initially seen in the park, and only a handful were visible on nearby Seventh Street.
Just before 2 p.m., a dozen CMPD officers on East Seventh Street ordered the crowd to back up and stay off the light rail tracks, and the crowd complied.
The event ended with officers shouting at the crowd to back up and stay off light rail tracks on East Seventh Street. “You don’t scare us!” the crowd chanted before backing up and moving on.
After most all of the marchers dispersed, about 100 continued to walk and chant just before 3 p.m. Police would continue monitoring them but not make them stop, an officer told a Charlotte Observer reporter at the scene.
Concerns for LGBTQ and Latino communities
Mother-daughter duo Nola, 24, and Jessica Stockam, 44, trekked over from Belmont — which didn’t have a No Kings protest scheduled — for the Charlotte rally. Nola held a sign with a Spanish message peppered with expletives that called for “no more orange.” She worries about the safety of the LGBTQ and Latino communities, both of which she is a member.
Protester Jane Duckwall, 69, said she planned to tap into her Social Security benefits once she turned 70 next March, but uncertainty and potential changes to the program worry her. “I’m concerned that they’ll stop (the program) or all the money I put into it will be (nixed) or cut in half,” she said.
“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance,” according to the movement’s website. “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism — and show the world what democracy really looks like.”
Organizers of the expected 1,400 marches across the country include Indivisible, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign.
“The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump,” the No Kings website states. “It belongs to us. On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
‘Mass mobilization’ in Charlotte
The events were billed as family-friendly and peaceful. Local organizers were trained in deescalation. Gov. Josh Stein on Friday urged people to protest “peacefully and lawfully.”
Indivisible Charlotte’s “Naked Emperor Rally and March” protested “authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics and the militarization of our democracy,” according to an Indivisible Charlotte statement.
Other NC ‘No Kings’ rallies
Groups in the Charlotte protest also included North Carolina American Federation of Teachers, Carolina Migrant Network, Action NC, Charlotte Metrolina Labor Council, Charlotte Area Liberal Moms and Drum Strong.
Other “No Kings” protests in the Charlotte region were held in Albemarle, Monroe, Mooresville, Newton, Rock Hill and Waxhaw.
The protests followed ones nationwide this week that started in downtown Los Angeles. In Charlotte, Organizers handed out American flags to those heading into First Ward Park.
“I really feel like this is going to be the largest mass mobilization since Trump (has been) in office, and I think that says a lot,” Eberly said at the park. “We want people to realize that they’re not alone, that they can come together in community.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
