War in Iran, ICE in airports among issues driving No Kings protest in Charlotte
Thousands returned to the streets of uptown Charlotte Saturday to express frustration with the Trump administration’s military actions in the Middle East and approach to immigration as part of another round of the national “No Kings” protest movement.
The crowd heard speeches from local civic organizers and historian and author Ibram X. Kendi at First Ward Park before a march through uptown that temporarily shut down multiple streets.
Saturday’s anti-Trump event was organized by local advocacy groups including Indivisible Charlotte, Red, Wine & Blue, Common Cause North Carolina, Carolina Migrant Network, 50501, the Poor People’s Campaign, the Charlotte Metrolina Labor Council and The Freedom Center.
The rally was one of more than 3,000 scheduled nationwide Saturday, the national No Kings organization said. Additional events in the Charlotte area were planned for Concord, Denver, Fort Mill, Huntersville, Rock Hill and Waxhaw.
“This is how movements grow. This is how power is built. We keep showing up, each time with more friends, with more neighbors, community, connection, joy, solidarity,” Indivisible Charlotte Founding Director Carolyn Eberly told the crowd at First Ward Park on Saturday.
In a statement ahead of Saturday’s rallies, a White House spokesperson said “the only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them.”
A pair of previous No Kings events in Charlotte drew thousands of people. The first two events were largely peaceful. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police did use pepper spray on a smaller group of people marching after the official end of the first rally in June and make two arrests.
CMPD reported “no incidents or arrests” during the latest protest.
Rallygoers speak out on Iran war, ICE
Michael Kovolski has attended all of the No Kings events in Charlotte, inspired by his concerns about affordability, especially when it comes to health care, and his opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
“It’s not helpful to our country. It’s not helpful to the economy. It’s not helpful for what we stand for,” Kovolski said of the administration’s surge in deportations.
He said the No Kings events help him get “a feeling of community” and connect with “like-minded people.”
“There’s a greater sense of purpose for everybody who’s here,” he said.
Shannon Harvell was also attending her third No Kings event. She’d never protested before Trump was elected president but said she’s now traveled to Washington, D.C., twice to protest there too.
“I feel like at least I have a voice,” she said. “... This term has got me mad as a hornet.”
Harvell described participating in Saturday’s event as “liberating” and said she hopes it will inspire more people to get involved in politics.
“I feel empowered,” she said.
Saturday marked Becky Linsz’s first No Kings event. She came with a sign that read “War Crimes Don’t Hide Sex Crimes” on one side and “Crush ICE” on the other.
“I feel like a lot of the things that are happening are trying to distract from the Epstein files and consequences that might come out of that,” Linsz said of her message opposing the Iran war.
Charlotte No Kings event features bestselling author
Similar messages continued as the day’s speakers took the microphone in the park, with the crowd switching between chants of “no wars” and “no ICE.”
Cameron Pruette, executive director of the Freedom Center for Social Justice, encouraged attendees to use Saturday’s event as a launch pad to get more engaged in politics.
“You can do something,” he told the crowd. “Whatever it is, take one more step after you leave here today. Today is the day to fuel, to party, to energize ourselves and to build this movement.”
Saturday’s rally also featured an appearance from Kendi, the author of The New York Times’ bestseller “How to Be an Antiracist.” After expressing frustration with seeing ICE in airports while traveling to Charlotte for the event, Kendi called on attendees to create a “chain of humanity” to combat division in politics.
“We don’t have to be misled into believing that racial and ethnic and religious and cultural groups are fundamentally separate, that they’re fundamentally at political war, and that that other group is coming to destroy us,” he said.
March temporarily closes uptown Charlotte streets
After hearing from the speakers at First Ward Park, protestors marched through uptown streets. They carried signs, and their chants included calls to “impeach Trump.”
CMPD blocked traffic along the group’s approximately mile-long loop.
Many stopped along the sidewalk to watch the group go by, with some taking photos and videos of the march and others briefly joining in on the protestors’ chants.
The crowd largely dispersed as they returned to First Ward Park shortly after 1:30 p.m. Some stuck around in the park, dancing to music playing over a loudspeaker and continuing anti-Trump chants.
A public art project sprung up as a group hung string around the park and encouraged attendees to write their reasons for participating in Saturday’s event and their hopes for the future on pieces of ribbon then tied to the string.
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 5:25 PM.
