13-06-2025
8 ‘No Kings' protests planned in Rhode Island Saturday
Hundreds of participants protested against the Trump administration in a 'No Kings' march toward the Rhode Island State House in Providence on April 19, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Bill King)
Eight demonstrations will be held across seven Rhode Island municipalities Saturday as part of nationwide 'No Kings' protests intended to reject the 'authoritarian overreach' of President Donald Trump's second term.
Robert Vitello, treasurer of the Newport Democratic City Committee, who helped organize Saturday's noon demonstration planned at Two Mile Corner in Middletown, said Friday morning he's received 350 responses from people who intend to show up.
'It will be peaceful, it will at many times be silent,' Vitello said in an interview. 'People will be holding their signs and letting them speak of their frustration, their outrage, and utter concern with the state of our democracy.'
Demonstrations will be held at the following locations in Rhode Island, according to the national No Kings coalition's website:
Water Street in New Shoreham on Block Island, from noon to 1 p.m.
The Rhode Island State House in Providence, from noon to 2 p.m.
India Point Park in Providence, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Two Mile Corner in Middletown, from noon to 2 p.m.
80 Boston Neck Road in North Kingstown, from noon to 2 p.m.
The village of Wakefield in South Kingstown, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
53 Child Street in Warren, noon to 1 p.m.
248 Post Road in Westerly, from noon to 2 p.m.
Vitello said interest in the rally has grown following the Trump administration's crackdown on mostly nonviolent protests in Los Angeles and the recent forcible removal and handcuffing of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-C.A.) by federal law enforcement at a Department of Homeland Security press conference.
Such actions have come in defiance of federal immigration raids in Los Angeles, where Trump has deployed the National Guard against demonstrators.
'As much as what we were all warned about what a second Trump term could be like, it's gone far beyond what people could have envisioned,' Vitello said.
Saturday's protests are timed to coincide with the national military parade in Washington D.C. meant to celebrate the U.S. Army's 250th birthday — along with President Trump's 79th birthday. Saturday is also Flag Day.
Indivisible Rhode Island, which organized the demonstration at India Point Park, referred to the D.C. festival as a 'vanity parade' on its website. The group also organized the 'Hands Off!' rally outside Kennedy Plaza in April against proposed cuts to federal funding.
Among those speaking at the India Point Park rally will be Rep. David Morales, a Providence Democrat.
'I am pleased to know that there is a movement where thousands of people all across the country and especially right here in our backyard of Providence, Rhode Island are here to take a stand,' Morales said in an interview.
The national festival and parade are expected to cost between $25 million to $45 million, according to reporting by States Newsroom. It will feature roughly 6,700 soldiers from every division, 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, 34 horses, two mules and one dog.
But the parade will not include any members of the Rhode Island National Guard. Col. Brenton Groeneveld, a spokesperson for the Guard, confirmed the state will not participate in or provide any support for the parade.
'The RING was not asked or tasked with providing any support to the June 14 parade,' Groeneveld said in an email.
The No Kings coalition projects millions of demonstrators will take the streets of over 2,000 cities and towns across the country — just not the nation's capital.
'Real power isn't staged in Washington,' national organizers wrote on the coalition's website. 'It rises up everywhere else.'
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
