Around 1,000 protestors gathered Saturday morning in Gainesville’s Poultry Park for a “No Kings” protest. It was one of dozens held around the state—more than 1,800 nationwide—protesting the policies of the Trump administration.
Attendees milled around inside the park and lined up behind barricades along Jesse Jewell Parkway, shouting various slogans calling for an end to what they consider to be President Trump’s “authoritarian” ways.
‘Indivisible,’ a grassroots movement with a mission to “elect progressive leaders,” was the organizing body behind the protest. Leaders of the Hall branch of the group previously said that 150 to 200 people registered for the event.
Event organizer Dallas Thompson, wearing an inflatable chicken costume, was delighted at the number of people who showed up for the protest. “I want to cry seeing so many people standing up for goodness and decency,” she said.
‘Scary time we’re living in’
Thompson said she was expecting to see the person behind the Facebook account posting threatening comments to Indivisible Hall’s social media, but she had not seen the person or any other counter-protesters.
“Some lady did stop me and ask, ‘Are you pro-immigration or anti-immigration?’ and I said ‘pro’ and she drove off,” she said.
Another one of the attendees, Diana, who did not wish to reveal her last name, said she is a first-generation American who grew up in Gainesville. She came to the protest to “speak up for her parents.”
“Everyone is in danger, no matter your skin color,” she said. “It’s a scary time we’re living in.”
Standing up for the Constitution
“It’s very important in this time to speak out about things that are happening in our government,” said protester Helen O’Brien. “The use of military force against civilians scares me. The lack of consideration about how the deportations are being carried out scares me.”
O’Brien said she supports the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, but “To round up people without careful process and without due process is against our Constitution,” she said. “And if the public no longer speaks out against the abuse of the Constitution, we no longer have a constitution that’s worth the paper it’s written on.”
Reflecting on the crowd that gathered Saturday, O’Brien said there were “tons of old people” who showed up for the protest, but she was encouraged by the number of young people who showed up.
“There was a wonderful spirit to it,” she said. “It was very peaceful and very civil.”
Not everyone greeted the protesters civilly. Some shouted insults and pro-Trump slogans from vehicles passing by on Jesse Jewell Parkway. One man drove around the park in a pickup with an American flag strapped to its hitch and the words “Jesus is King” stuck to his back window. He saluted the crowd with his middle finger as he drove by.
Still, O’Brien said passersby were generally nice. She said more greeted them favorably than not.
Clyde challenger protests VA cuts
Nick Alex, a Democrat running for Georgia’s 9th District seat of the House of Representatives in 2026, came to the protest to campaign against Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde.
When asked about his stance on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” proposed by the Trump administration, Alex said his main disagreement was the bill’s plan to cut funds from the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
Alex said that around 60% of all births are funded by Medicaid. “Once healthcare is cut for these people, their gonna go to hospitals or emergency rooms where they won’t get the right kind of care,” he said.
Alex also plans to advocate against the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), specifically cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“In the VA, they’re cutting 85,000 jobs, 80% of which were held by veterans, so now you’ve got 65,000 veterans who are about to be unemployed,” he said. “They’re gonna be closing the regional offices of the VA, making it harder for them to get the care they deserve.”
That shared concern for the well-being of others guided many protesters, including O’Brien, to Poultry Park.
“I was at today’s rally because of my deep faith in Jesus and my desire to live in accordance with his teachings, which are rooted in love for all people and concern for the poor and the voiceless,” she told Now Habersham. “Jesus calls me to speak out against the use of hate and fear for political gain.”
Now Habersham was also on the scene at the ‘No Kings’ protest in Athens and the ICE protest in Chamblee Saturday afternoon. The protestors there attempted to march on Chamblee Tucker Road toward the northbound exit of I-285. DeKalb County Police halted the march and began deploying chemical explosives onto protesters. Crowds dispersed shortly after.
Saturday’s protests coincided with President Trump’s birthday, the 250th anniversary parade of the U.S. Army, and Flag Day.
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