By Logan Martini and Morgan Lane
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
Nearly 1,000 demonstrators marched through Towson on Saturday as part of the nationwide No Kings Day protests against the Trump administration.
The demonstration and march, held at Riderwood Hills Park in Towson, was organized by Indivisible Baltimore County and members of the Towson University Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA).
The No Kings Day demonstration in Towson was one of many held throughout the country. Organizers estimated that 7 million people showed up nationwide in 2,700 towns and cities. In Maryland, thousands attended rallies in Baltimore, the Eastern Shore, Silver Spring and other locations around the state.
Multiple activists and politicians, including U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, appeared and spoke at the event.
According to Towson YDSA co-chair, Noah Glorioso, the protest was originally supposed to be held on Towson University’s campus, but many students had an issue with some of the university’s security requirements.
“They wanted to put barricades around everyone who was attending, strictly controlled entry and exit points, and pass a list of all of the speakers’ names to the FBI,” Glorioso said.
The Baltimore Watchdog reached out to the university for a statement, but has not heard back yet. However, according to the Baltimore Banner, Towson officials said they follow these protocols for all large events.
Glorioso and other members of the Towson YDSA worked with Indivisible Baltimore County to re-locate the event with a one-week turnaround.
Van Hollen, who spoke two hours into the event, said he and U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks have voted seven times to reopen the government without giving Trump a blank check.
“I’m glad he’s negotiating in the Middle East,” Van Hollen said in an interview after his speech, referring to White House efforts to bring a ceasefire to the Gaza Strip. “But he should negotiate the reopening of the federal government.”
The U.S. government has been partially shut down since Oct. 1.
State Del. Cathi Forbes, D-Baltimore County, said that democracy is being threatened at the national level. She acknowledged the power that Maryland has at the state level and said that it’s “a great day to be a Marylander.”
“When this administration fired thousands of Marylanders without cause, Maryland said, ‘We’re here to help you,’” Forbes said.
Kaye Whitehead, an associate professor of communication at Loyola University Maryland, said that Americans must remind Trump that he’s not a king.
“We don’t want kings because democracy is what we have fought for,” she said.
At 3 p.m. protesters marched down Kenilworth Drive and turned onto North Charles Street, where they chanted in support of democracy.
They turned around just before they reached the exit to the Baltimore Beltway and I-695.
“I march today because I love this country,” said Theresa Adams, a special educator at Baltimore County Public Schools who was dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume. “The idea that they (her students) are less than because they are not white, they weren’t documented, or they weren’t born here, is absolutely repulsive to me.”
Residents on Kenilworth Drive came from inside of their homes to observe the march. Some took out their phones to document the event.
Once on Charles Street, many cars passing by on the opposite side of the road honked in solidarity with the protesters. One group of counter protesters stuck their middle fingers up from their car window.
“We’re trying to stand up for what’s right,” said protester Nicholas Nguyn. “We really, really have to keep pushing back.”
Many protesters brought handmade signs and American flags. Some people wore inflatable animal costumes and animal print onesies, inspired by the Portland Frog.
“There was a really cool guy dressed up in a frog inflatable, and he walked right up to these federal agents and police officers in riot gear,” said Sue Willis, a protester dressed in a blowup frog costume. “He just stood there and just bobbed back and forth, and they just walked backward from him.”
The first nationwide No Kings Day protest took place on June 14, 2025. Americans are calling the most recent protest No Kings Day 2.0.
According to The Guardian newspaper, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said the No Kings protests are “hate America” rallies.
“I love my country, I love democracy. I think it’s this whole narrative that, you know, we hate our country, and that’s why we’re doing this. It’s like, no, we’re doing this because all of us deserve better,” Adams said.
By late afternoon, the only thing left in the park was a message written in the sand of the baseball diamond: healthcare over billionaires, with a checked box next to healthcare and an X next to billionaires.
“At the end of the day, it really is all of us,” Van Hollen said. “It is we the people.”