Chattanoogans don revolutionary attire for ‘No Kings’ rally against Trump

By Mason Edwards, Chattanooga Times Free Press

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton/ Protesters participate in the No Kings in America Rally and Protest in Miller Park on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

A crowd of hundreds gathered Saturday morning for a "No Kings" rally at Miller Park in Chattanooga, part of a nationwide effort to oppose what some view as monarchical tendencies by President Donald Trump.

The Flag Day marches across the country, being held in some 2,000 cities, coincided with Trump's birthday and his planned military parade to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

(READ MORE: Supporters of immigrants rally in Dalton on ‘No Kings’ day)

The Chattanooga protest was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m, and drew a multigenerational, multistate crowd – many waved signs with messages about fascism, "Star Wars" stormtroopers, the hue of the president's skin, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and more.

Some protesters who disagreed with the current administration, like Reed Hampton, 17, a Signal Mountain High School student, dressed in colonial garb, with tricorn hats and long coats. Hampton established the Hamilton County High School Democrats at his school as a junior.

"I'm dressed here at 'No Kings' as a Continental soldier for the Revolutionary War, because that's where we fought against our first king," he said. "We have to fight against our next aspiring king, but he will not be a king, because we have a Constitution that says we are a government for the people, by the people, not for Trump, by Trump."

Laine Drummond, 57, said her family doesn't understand why she drove from Lafayette, Georgia, to the rally. She held up a sign that said "My grandpa died fighting fascism," which she said honored her mother and grandfather while also trying to wake people up to what she sees as Trump's authoritarian tendencies.

She referenced the ongoing ICE detentions and protests happening across the country, in which courts have found many immigrants and refugees were denied due process – a key right enshrined in the Constitution after colonial rule.

"Yanking people off the streets, that kind of oppression ... and I know probably a small percentage of it's warranted, but not this blanket, taking people off the street and send them off to a country that they're not even from," she said. "I'm the only one who pays attention to read the news and watch what goes on, and they just all line up and wear their red hats, and it's caused a huge rip in my family."

'TRIBALISM'

Brandon Lewis, a Signal Mountain resident who runs a conservative newsletter, dismissed the rally's premise as "utterly ridiculous" in a phone interview.

"They're mad Trump's enforcing immigration law – the same laws that have been on the books," Lewis said. "Either we're a nation of laws or a nation of emotions. You don't want to go to court and be judged based on feelings."

(READ MORE: Georgia leaders warn of crackdown if 'No Kings' protests take a turn toward violence)

With Trump's military parade and birthday on Saturday, Lewis compared the atmosphere to Georgia and Tennessee football fans

"Some of it's policy, the other 65% is probably just good old-fashioned tribalism," he said. "It's a social, psychological phenomenon, and ... when one tribe comes out to make noise ... the other side gotta come out and beat their drums and shields too, and that's just politics."

A regular counter-protester who has shown up at many recent anti-Trump demonstrations declined to give his name at Miller Park on Saturday. He said that people who enter the country without authorization don't seek due process on the way into the U.S. and therefore don't deserve it when being deported. Lewis agreed with him.

"I don't have any great concern about the process for people that entered the country illegally, you know, I just don't," Lewis said. "If I went to Russia with my family and never got citizenship, I would know at some point that would not turn out good. I would fully expect at some point to end up in a gulag or arrested or deported. People take all these exorbitant risks thinking there will never be an administration to come along and enforce the rules."

'NO PATH'

As illegal immigrants face ICE deportations, previously admitted refugees from other countries are stranded, Zach McElrath, 37, said while holding up a "things are so bad, even introverts are here" sign.

"I have friends here in Chattanooga who are refugees from Colombia. They came with the promise that the United States made to them, that they would have a place to escape from literally being murdered at home," he said. "They were promised an opportunity to live here as refugees, and as soon as Donald Trump took office, that promise was broken. Now they are stuck here. They have no path to legal status."

Staff photo by Mason Edwards / Crowds gather June 14, 2025, for a Staff photo by Mason Edwards / Crowds gather June 14, 2025, for a "No Kings" rally at Miller Park in Chattanooga.

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Out of the many dozens of American flags, one Mexican flag stood out, belonging to Jaquelin Garcia, a U.S. citizen who said her family fled gang violence in California. She said that the current administration has been tyrannical over deportations and Palestine and that her people belong in the country. Other protesters, like McElrath, mentioned the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of the importance of immigration.

Lewis said that massive immigration causes problems. He said that diversity for diversity's sake is a losing philosophy that will not lead to success.

"Look at Western Europe, I mean, it is a crap hole," he said, "slowly being turned into a third world garbage pit."

Regarding the outfits protesters wore, Lewis said protests on the left or the right will bring out all kinds of people.

"You have to be a little off to think you can actually impact your government (for) your efforts," he said. "Economically, there's no benefit to you to do it; you'd be better off doing anything else, if you just do the math."

Beth Staten, 64, of East Brainerd, contacted by phone about the protest, voted for Trump and said she wasn't letting the protests upset her.

"The conservative people just need to ignore them," she said. "Just, hopefully it will blow over. Somebody is funding them to do all this, though."

From the stage at Saturday's event, protest leaders denied anyone was being paid to protest. Several participants denied that as well.