photo credit: Michelle Marques
Allison (left) and Debi display their protest signs in Santa Rosa at the No Kings rally.

Thousands appeared at the No Kings protest in Santa Rosa on Saturday, October 18^th, 2025. Protesters marched along Sonoma Avenue to get to the rally at Doyle Park, and along the route, some people cheered on from their homes.

“My name is Andrew, otherwise known as Rusty! I love it, I happen to be livin’ right here by the parade routes, so I didn’t have to go anywhere today. Last time I marched all the way up to the intersection. And I’m just happy to see this, you know, something needs to happen here. This administration has got to be stopped somehow,” said Rusty.

“Tell me about what your signs say,” KRCB News asked.

“Well, this one says ‘He’s wrong about everything.’ Tariffs, Medicaid, Mexico, Canada, Immigrants, Greenland, all of that. And now the list has gotten a lot longer – I made that one in the beginning. And this one says ‘Reeducate MAGA’ – those poor people really need to start doing some critical thinking. But they need to be reeducated, not, not – not disparaged. You know, I mean they’re Americans too. They just need to come to their senses. One of my daughters is MAGA and the other one is on the right page, let’s put it that way,” said Rusty.

“What do your daughters think of what you do here?” asked KRCB News.

“Well, one of ‘em called me, she lives up near Portland, and she called me a couple of days ago and told me to be safe and take care,” Rusty said.

“How are things for her in Portland? Are they okay?” asked KRCB News.

“Yeah, well she lives in a small town, but even in the small towns they’re having, you know… I call ‘em rallies, not protests, this is a rally,” said Rusty. “We’re having fun out here, you know?!”

In Santa Rosa, protesters marched from the Junior College starting at 9am and from Juilliard Park starting at 10am to converge on Doyle Park. With just one entrance and exit to Doyle Park, a bottleneck made it difficult to get in and out, which hampered efforts by emergency crews to get an ambulance in to help an injured man. Paramedics had to leave the vehicle outside of the park and bring in a gurney by hand to retrieve the man.

“Make a hole! Make a hole!” said volunteers.

At the entrance to Doyle Park, State Senator Mike McGuire spoke to the crowd.

 “This is what power looks like. Not with the billionaires, but with the people. I’m so honored to be here today. Another round of applause for Indivisible Sonoma County everyone!” said McGuire.

The local protest was organized by Indivisible Sonoma County. McGuire spoke directly with KRCB News about the importance of this rally.

“I have never seen the thousands of folks that have taken to the streets of Santa Rosa and there are thousands more in every corner of Sonoma County that are taking the streets and taking back our democracy. And I am here because we have to fight fascism. We have to stand strong for civil rights, for rights of women across this nation. People are fighting for rights of every human, and that’s why you’re seeing so many out here that are mobilizing. This is not a time to agonize; it’s a time to organize and this is what today is all about,” said McGuire.

Many attendees were inspired by those demonstrating against ICE agents in Portland, Oregon, where people are showing up in inflatable costumes, like frogs, dinosaurs and unicorns. Josh and his wife Kats from Sonoma wore matching frog inflatables.

“Did you guys have these just laying around, these frog costumes?” KRCB News asked.

“We ordered them as soon as we saw the Portland protesters using them in front of the ICE facility just to sort of make a mockery out of such a ridiculous situation up there – that inspired us to purchase them before they’re now sold out everywhere, I guess,” said Josh.

“What did you think of the protest today?” KRCB News asked.

“I couldn’t see very much of it, but it’s just, it’s beautiful to see so many people out in the streets, showing everyone what democracy really looks like, and expressing their outrage for such - a just outrageous situation that we find ourselves in,” Josh said.

“What about you, what were your thoughts today,” said KRCB News.

“I second all of that. It’s just – if you don’t laugh, you cry. And so it’s good to just like try to stay light and happy, and connect with all our neighbors,” said Kats.

“How comfortable are these costumes?” asked KRCB News.

“So uncomfortable and hot, yeah. It’s pretty awful,” said Kats.

While the inflatable costumes added an aspect of silliness to the event, the messages were still serious and concerned about the policies and actions of the federal government.

Pamela Carter from Santa Rosa says her kid helped her get into an inflatable donkey outfit.

“I pledged allegiance to the flag all my life. And at the end it says ‘with liberty and justice for all’ and I just feel like that might go away,” said Carter. “And that scares me.”