About 1,300 people showed up in Covington to join nearly 7 million across the nation who attended No Kings day rallies against actions by the Trump administration.
There were about 2,700 peaceful rallies Saturday, Oct. 18 in all 50 states, according to Indivisible, a national organizer of the protests.
Indivisible Covington organized a local rally with people holding many anti-Trump signs from 12 to 2 p.m. along SE 272nd Street and 168th Place SE. The group also displayed banners from the Covington-Sawyer Road Highway 18 overpass between Southeast 272nd Street and Costco.
“Between our two events and various counts we think we had about 1,300 participants which is great,” Connie Compton, one of the organizers, posted on the Indivisible Covington Facebook page. “Covington looked really strong today (Oct. 18).”
Other South King County rallies were in Auburn, Renton, Federal Way, Enumclaw, Maple Valley, Tukwila and Des Moines.
People display signs during the Covington rally. COURTESY PHOTO, Indivisible Covington
A statement on nokings.org summarized the reasons for the second rally against President Donald Trump.
“His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities,” according to the statement. “They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. Gutting health care, environmental protections, and education when families need them most. Rigging maps to silence voters. Ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities. Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.
“The president thinks his rule is absolute. But in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty.”
Trump jet video
So how did Trump respond to the protests?
“On Saturday, Oct. 18, Trump, 79, posted an AI-generated video of himself flying a jet while dumping brown sludge over crowds of protesters in response to the return of the anti-Trump protests taking place across the United States,” according to people.com and other media websites.
“In the fake clip, which was shared on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social and is accompanied by the Kenny Loggins song “Danger Zone,” the president is seen wearing a crown while sitting in a fighter jet marked “King Trump,” according to people.com. “He is then seen flying over large crowds of protesters and dumping brown liquid on them in what appears to be Times Square in New York City.”
Loggins said in a statement Monday that he never granted Trump permission to use his song and asked for the song to be removed from the video.
Republican leaders, including Congressional House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, referred to protests as the “hate America rally.” They also said Trump isn’t a king, so the name of the protests didn’t make sense to them. Trump also said he wasn’t a king.
A member of Indivisible Covington posted Oct. 20 on its Facebook page a response to those comments.
“People (MAGA) seem to be conveniently forgetting that the whole No Kings movement began in response to Trump calling himself a king. Feb. 19, 2025 he posted, in the official White House account, a picture of himself on a Time magazine cover, “Long Live the King,” according to the post. “That picture, along with his behaving like a monarch, is what led to the No Kings movement in the first place.”
The member also commented about Trump’s video posting of himself as a king.
“His recent video showing himself as a king, flying a jet called “King Trump,” dumping excrement on protesters, would have been immature if a 10-year old posted it,” according to the Indivisible Covington member post. “To have a video like that posted by the president of the United States is simply reprehensible. It proves just how far his Trump Dementia Syndrome has progressed.”
Johnson, the House speaker, defended the video when asked about it by reporters at his Monday press conference.
“The president uses social media to make a point,” Johnson said according to politico.com. “You can argue he’s probably the most effective person who’s ever used social media for that. He is using satire to make a point. He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents.”
Johnson, reportedly did not further explain what Trump’s point might have been.
Covington Police reaction
Adam Easterbrook, of the Covington Police Department, said for the most part there were no issues during the protest.
“We did not have any arrests during the event, however, there was an intoxicated man who was causing problems,” Easterbrook said in an Oct. 20 email. “He was not part of the protest and said he had an opposite view. He was asked to leave and did so. He later called 911 and officers then discovered he had warrants. He was arrested for the warrants, which had nothing to do with the protest.”
Two officers were assigned to the protest and police also monitored the event with a drone, Easterbrook said. The city of Covington contracts with the King County Sheriff’s Office for police services.
“I was present and for the most part there were no issues,” he said. “This created some traffic issues which were fairly minor.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with information from Covington Police.
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Attendees had plenty of messages for the Trump administration. COURTESY PHOTO, Indivisible Covington
