According to reports, the March 28 “No Kings” rally held in Albuquerque to protest the policies of President Donald had upwards of 50,000 participants. It was the third No Kings march held in Albuquerque and was likely the largest of the three. The last “No Kings Day” demonstration took place in the fall and had an estimated 37,000 participants. Indivisible Albuquerque, an organizer of the March 28 event said attendance estimate, based on drone footage, was 50,000 people. In New Mexico, nearly 30 rallies were held, including in Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Carlsbad.
Across the country, more than 2,000 rallies were held according to the No Kings website. U.S. organizers had estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. On Saturday, March 28, they estimated that at least 8 million participants took part in more than 3,300 events worldwide.
In Albuquerque, most participants gathered at Montgomery Park before marching peacefully for three miles along San Mateo, Montgomery, Louisiana and Comanche boulevards before returning to the park. Temperatures reached the high 70s as a cool breeze helped wave flags above the heads of marchers as they held handmade signs of protest. The Albuquerque Police Department blocked off streets as protesters carried signs opposing Trump’s political agenda and policies. The sound of banging drums and chants reverberated in the streets as passing drivers blared their horns in support of protesters with a few expressing opposition.
STACEY ABRAMS SPEAKS
From discontent and protest over the Iranian War, or the ongoing government shutdown to concerns over immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights, protesters of all ages had different reasons for joining the rally. All voiced their complete distain and frustration with the Trump administration.
The main guest speaker at the rally before the march was Stacey Abrams, the former minority leader in the Georgia House of Representatives. She was in New Mexico to campaign for Democrat Deb Haaland’s who is running for the Democratic nomination for Governor against Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman.
Abrams spoke for about 15 minutes as she spoke about the 10 steps to authoritarianism that the Trump Administration has now taken. Those include by starting with free elections then followed by expanding executive power, installing loyalists, attacking free expression and free speech and normalizing violence and suppression of access to the ballot box and people’s rights to vote. Abrams said this to the cheering crowd:
“They’ve taken all 10 steps to authoritarianism. … They were going to seize our power and change our rules and change our minds and change our lives. But I’m here to tell you, no, not on our watch. … They’ve taken the 10 steps to pull our democracy into authoritarianism; they have done their best to make the man sitting in the White House an autocrat. But if there are 10 Steps to authoritarianism and autocracy, I’m here to tell you there are 10 steps to freedom and power, and we’re going to take every single one!”
Abrams outlined 10 steps she said will take back democracy and freedom, focusing not just on the mid-term elections in November, but action at the local level. Abrams said this:
“We’re going to organize ourselves to show up after today because they need to know that ‘No Kings’ is not a day, it’s a dream, and it’s a truth, and it’s a reality. … We’re going to show up at those community meetings, at those city council meetings, at those county commission meetings, because they’re not doing this alone in DC. … They’ve got folks at the state and local level doing this with them, and they all need to know we’re paying attention. We’re going to disrupt.”
Stacy Abrams took the opportunity to campaign for Debra Haaland for Governor and said this:
“Every eight years in the state of New Mexico, you guys change your minds and say, ‘oops, never mind. We didn’t like progress. Let’s go backwards.’ … But this time y’all got Deb Haaland waiting for you, let’s get it done. Let’s elect we’ve got to elect people who believe in the people, not the power. We’ve got to elect people who believe in the future, not the past.”
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAÚL TORREZ SPEAKS TO CROWD
Another prominent guest speaker was Attorney General Raúl Torrez. He bragged about the fact his office has successfully sued President Trump 44 times. Torrez also took credit for the state’s recent legal victory against Meta and its founder Mark Zucherberg. Torrez said this:
“Now we took a little time out from suing Donald this last week to deliver a $375 million message to Mark Zuckerberg.”
Torrez told the crowd said this to the crowd cheering him on:
“You’re called upon in this moment to build a different kind of politics, to restore what really makes America great. … Two hundred and fifty years ago, a small group of people declared to the world that the consent of the governed was paramount, that we would not live under arbitrary rules and arbitrary power, that we would not abide graft and corruption and tyranny, and that is still what we are fighting for today. … As long as I have the power to stand up and say no, you can count on me, but I need to know that I can count on you to show up, to organize, to fight, to never give up, to not look away. Now is the time, and we need everything that you can give us.”
ALEXANDER UBALLEZ SPEAKS TO CROWD
Former U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez, who unsuccessfully ran for Mayor last year coming in third with 18.79% of the vote behind Mayor Tim Keller’s 35.69% and Darren White’s 30.65% who made it into the runoff, spoke about a young woman he met last year while campaigning who bought two dozen burritos for an unhoused man and his community. He used the story to urge people to work in the community to make things better. Uballez told the crowd this:
“Madison helped a stranger, knowing that two dozen burritos wasn’t going to fix the structural problems of poverty and mental illness and addiction that drive homelessness in our city, but knowing also that she had to do something. … This moment demands that you, too, do something, that you take a risk, that you sacrifice something, that you put something on the line when the odds are stacked against you.”
FABIOLA LANDEROS SPEAKS TO CROWD
Fabiola Landeros, a civil rights organizer with El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos invoked the contributions of the immigrant community in New Mexico. She said it will take all New Mexicans of conscience to resist current federal policy. Landeros said this:
“We are living in a moment where fellow Burqueños are afraid to go to the store, afraid to send our kids to school, afraid masked agents will snatch us off the streets in plain daylight. We are living in a moment where parents are having to have unthinkable conversations with our children in case we don’t come back home from work.”
PEACEFUL MARCH PROCEEDS WITHOUT INCIDENT
After all the speeches, the crowd assembled along Ponderosa Street that borders the park. The crowd was riddled with handmade signs protesting Trump and his policies, including the Iranian War he has declared and ICE arrests. Protesters march West to San Mateo and went right North to Mongomery and marched East to Louisiana and then turned West on Comanche to return to Montgomery Park for a walk of about 3 miles.
NEW MEXICO REPUBLICAN PARTY REACTS
The Republican Party of New Mexico downplayed the protest march and said the “NO KINGS” movement merely causes confusion and division at a time when the state is facing a crisis in health care, veterans rights and a lack of school choice.
New Mexico Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Barela released the following statement on behalf of her party:
“If we had a ‘king’ in the White House, there wouldn’t be a ‘No Kings’ protest tomorrow. … We have a president who is making our country infinitely safer by doing what Democrats have refused to do for years: cracking down on crime, eliminating terrorist threats abroad, and removing dangerous criminal illegals from our communities. … Whatever the message behind these protests may be, it stands in stark contrast to what President Donald J. Trump has been doing for this country, putting America and Americans first. …For the first time in modern history, we have a president who prioritizes the people over the political elite, families over government control, and the future of our children over the agendas of Washington insiders.”
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:
https://www.koat.com/article/no-kings-protest-in-albuquerque-draws-thousands-of-people/70874268
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/no-kings-rally-draws-thousands-to-downtown-albuquerque/2905082
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-kings-rallies-protest-trump-millions/
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The “No Kings” rallies across the country with 8 million participants taking part in more than 3,300 events represent what our Democracy is all about. They reflect just how upset and disgusted the public have become with President Donald Trump.
Opinion polls are very consistent that Trump’s approval ratings are at 42% and sinking. Trump’s invasion of two countries and declaring war without congressional approval is taking its toll, as he threatens to invade Cuba saying it’s his to take, as the government shut down continues, as gasoline prices soar and as the economy continues to tank, as ICE kills American citizens, and affordability are the number one issues in the midterms just 8 months away and as Trump’s Department of Justice continues to withhold the Trump-Epstein files.
The midterms will “tell all” if Trump will be impeached for a third time and finally removed from office, unless there is divine intervention because of his ill health. Trump has finally gotten the biggest crowds he covets and that he lied about when he was inaugurated the first time.