On March 28, a march organized by “Queens Says No Kings,” was one of several marches across the five boroughs in which New Yorkers joined an estimated 8 million Americans for the nationwide “No Kings” protests. 

The Queens event, which snaked along Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills from MacDonald Park to Queens Borough Hall, drew residents of all ages, ranging from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs. While the main chant was, “Queens says no kings,” others included, “No ICE, no war, this is what we’re fighting for,” and  “hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”

Heather Beers-Dimitriadis, an Executive Board member of Central Queens Independent Democrats who helped organize the event, said that despite the cold weather, “the turnout has been solid. People continue to turn up of all ages, which is relatively wonderful.”

Ms. Dimitriadis said that her motivation to help organize the event was to fight for the future of her friends, children, and the friends of her children. 

“I feel like we’re going backwards,” she said. “ I feel like the same issues that were in front and center when I was a kid, are still front and center for my kids, and that’s not how we should be moving as a society.”

Ms. Dimitriadis said she hopes the event “puts a face to all the issues” raised by Trump’s actions regarding immigration, the invasion of Iran, and other policies. “It lets people know they’re not alone in their anger, and their frustration.”

The March protest was the third in the series of “No Kings” demonstrations against Donald Trump’s second administration, following similar nationwide marches in June 2025 and October 2025. 

In addition to Ms. Dimitriadis, The Classic interviewed ten other Queens protesters, who all shared a common sense of anger regarding ICE tactics, handlings of foreign conflict, and authoritarian overreach.

Luis Mangol, a United States Veteran, said he was at the protest to make his opposition clear. “I’m here to shout out and let it be known that we don’t want Trump and his people in power anymore. That we’re tired of him and his billionaire friends taking advantage of the American people, stealing our money, impoverishing our country, and imprisoning people and little kids.” 

He added that the administration’s action affected how he feels about his own American identity. “It’s embarrassing to go to other countries and for people to know that you’re an American,” Mr. Mangol said. “I feel bad for all those troops that are out there fighting, really giving their lives for no just points,” he said, adding that “[the war in Iran] should have never happened.” 

“What’s going on in our country is unacceptable,” 32-year-old Sarah Welton said, echoing the same anger. “The war, the imperial boomerang with ICE, and it’s a descent into fascism. I mean, we literally have brown shirts here and it’s really scary.”  

Former Townsend Harris assistant principal of organization Ellen Fee, who was also at the protest, shared the same disapproval of “ICE having tactics that are inhumane, and starting a war in a place that doesn’t need America’s intervention.” She said that she hopes that “this little protest will be a part of a larger movement across the nation that our politicians will listen to, and realize that the country is not happy.”

Ms. Fee said it was important to show up and take a stand. Silence is not neutrality, she said. “Your silence is just as loud as demonstrating.”

“I think it’s good that there are even smaller ones all over,” 70-year-old Micheal Wilk said. “I don’t want people to say, ‘Oh, it’s just Manhattan. You know how those people are. ’ I want them to see that this is happening all over the country. Not just the big city. Even the smaller communities”.

Beyond the common sense of frustration, protesters also spoke on the importance of protesting and public demonstrations. With a double-sided sign addressing both Congress and Trump, another marcher, Chris Wells, criticized what he described as a lack of diverse perspectives within the administration. “It’s a cabinet that’s full of people that are just about them, not listening to other people,” he said. “It’s an approach that’s based solely on wanting his own glory rather than wanting informed discussion with anybody else. So out of that comes all sorts of craziness because it’s all just about him.”

Mr. Wells described this as a crucial time for public confrontation. “I generally prefer to have subtle discussions, but we are in a non-subtle, non-nuanced age, so I feel that I really need to sort of be present and state my opinion more publicly,” he said.   

“Getting some publicity, making the frustrations of the people a little bit more conspicuous,” Mr. Wells said. “Every little bit of attention to the disappointments of the people will maybe persuade the Republican Party, and that it needs to reform itself, and step aside from this sort of worshiping of Donald Trump.” 

Meg Harkins, who was holding a sign referencing Jeffery Epstein, said that the aim of the protest was in “showing the world, how democracy is an action, and that a dictatorship and fascism cannot live when this many people are living their truth and against it. So we will keep finding the power till we take the midterms.”

Ms. Harkins added that Trump’s actions require accountability and condemnation. “The rest of the world is putting these criminals and these men on trial, and the United States is not, and we need to change that when Congress flips in November,” she said. “Everything he does is a distraction against him getting arrested and thrown in jail again, as he should have been many other times, so we have to remember that this is important.”

Some protesters were wearing costumes to stand out and emphasize their cause. Sandy Liu, who was wearing a yellow teletubby, said she wore it because “yellow is the color of resistance. It was used in a few protests in Hong Kong, all over the world in the United States before.

Other protesters wore costumes for different reasons. Jorge Londono, who wore a Batman costume, said his attire was simply a matter of personal preference. “I love Batman,” Mr. Londono said. Despite the playful costume, Mr. Londono said he hopes for the protest to bring change and for “the Democrats [to] rise up and remove this president.”

Regardless of the attire, the goal of all protesters was to demonstrate opposition and push for a change

Among the younger protesters was 16-year-old Emeline Rushing. “His regime has been horrible for our country,” she said. “He’s been horrible for our country. He needs to leave before this ends. We need to do what we can to get him out before it gets worse.” 

While President Trump, who was born in Jamaica Hospital and went to school in Kew Gardens as a child, has not made any official comments on the latest protests, he dismissed the previous demonstration as a “joke” in footage posted by CNN in October. “I looked at the people. They’re not representative of this country,” he said at the time. “The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective, and the people were whacked out.”