An estimated 200,000 people attended the Washington D.C. “No Kings” Oct. 18, as a part of a nationwide protest that drew close to seven million protesters at around 2,400 gatherings against the Trump administration and their policies. In the nation’s capital, the day’s events started off with a march that paraded through the National Mall, followed by a rally near the U.S. Capitol.

The march started at 10 a.m. with an initial estimated crowd of over 5,000 protesters gathering to the meeting point outside of Arlington National Cemetery. Once the crowd started to march, the demonstration took up all D.C. bound lanes of the bridge and stretched around half the length of the bridge.

As the march went on, the energy of the crowd only increased. They passed the Lincoln Memorial and started down Constitution Avenue, towards the White House. The Trump administration was the main target of the protest, as his handling of both domestic and foreign affairs are highly polarizing. Demonstrations against the administration around the country had similar turnouts to that in D.C., with around 300,000 in New York, 250,000 in Chicago and 125,000 in Boston. 

The march reached its destination of the Jefferson Pier Stone without issue, and disbanded quickly, with many of the marchers joining up with the 200,000 or so people gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue for the official “No Kings” rally in D.C. The crowd gathered for the rally stretched all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue, to the White House.

 The headliner for the event was Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a vocal critic of the Trump administration and popular figure within the progressive movement. Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized the demonstrations and considered them to be “America hating.” Sanders pushed back on this notion during his speech.

“The republican speaker of the house has called these rallies ‘Hate America rallies,’ boy does he have it wrong,” Sanders said at the rally. “Millions of Americans are coming out today not because they hate America, we are here because we love America.

The Trump administration has been accused of violating the Constitution for their repeated use of detainment and deportation against political rivals and deportation without due process. Many of the marchers expressed their anger with these policies with signs.

Discontent towards the authoritarian parts of Trump’s agenda are present here at LMC as well.

“I believe that ‘No Kings’ is a sign of unity in the country against what many believe to be a tyrannical dictatorship,” said LMC student Rafael Gonzalez about the protest. “Maybe they don’t agree on every single policy, but they all agree that this one person is acting in an un-American way.”

Authoritarianism has always been a part of the Executive Branch of the US government, said LMC history professor Russell Weber, but Trump’s authoritarianism differs in its shift from the accepted norms of American society.

Trump has deployed the national guard to cities he views as dangerous, started deporting people who are suspected of living in the US illegally without due process and has used violent rhetoric against his critics and political opposition. To many people, Weber says, this feels much more authoritarian than other president’s actions. In particular the administration’s violent rhetoric towards protesters is particularly worrying.

“The second citizens start feeling like they cannot protest for fear of violent repercussions, whether that’s physical, economic or cultural violence, that is an enormous red flag,” said Weber. “It’s not only censorship through the first amendment, but also one of the telltale signs of a shift towards authoritarianism.”