Tens of thousands of people turned out in Albuquerque Saturday for the third No Kings march to protest the policies of President Donald Trump. It was one of at least 28 rallies in New Mexico and over 3,000 nationwide.
March organizer Indivisible Albuquerque said its preliminary attendance estimate, based on drone footage, was 50,000 people, most of whom gathered at Montgomery Park before marching peacefully about three miles along San Mateo, Montgomery and Louisiana boulevards before returning to the park.
There were fewer whimsical costumes compared to the last No Kings march in October, aside from the odd frog or cartoon character here and there, as well as people dressed in colonial garb, but the mood was just as upbeat and positive. Organizers urged people to remain peaceful and not engage any counter protestors, of which there were only about five at the corner of Comanche and Louisiana.
Among the speakers who kicked off the day was former Congresswoman Stacey Abrams, who is in New Mexico to campaign for Democrat Deb Haaland’s gubernatorial run. Abrams has created a campaign called 10 Steps, which outlines 10 steps to authoritarianism. Those include expanding executive power, installing loyalists, attacking free expression and normalizing state violence.
“They've taken all 10, 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,” she said to a cheering crowd.
Abrams then 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.
“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,” she said. “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.”
She also put a plug in for Haaland as governor.
“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,’” she said. “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 touted the fact he has sued President Trump 44 times over the last year, and also brought up the state’s recent legal victory against Meta and its founder.
“Now we took a little time out from suing Donald this last week to deliver a $375 million message to Mark Zuckerberg,” he said.
Torrez told the crowd they are being called upon to build a different kind of politics in this moment.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Fabiola Landeros, civil rights organizer at El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos invoked the contributions of the immigrant community in New Mexico, but said it will take all New Mexicans of conscience to resist current federal policy.
“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,” she said.
Former U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez spoke about a young woman he met last year while campaigning unsuccessfully for mayor 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.
“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,” he said. “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.”
As the march started, Jackie Hull, 66, carried a portrait of Donald Trump blowing his nose in the American flag. This was the first time she ever came to a protest. But the retired teacher was prompted in large part by the war on Iran and innocent children being hurt.
“I'm just so full of angst and dismay at the state of our country and constantly on edge with what Trump is going to do next and his administration,” Hull said. “And I have a young grandson that I'm really worried about growing up in this country, so I wanted to come speak my part, or be a part of this movement.”
Celeste Davis, 69, wore a Tweety Bird costume and held a sign that said “Tweet this” on one side. On the other it said “I Tawt I Taw A Pedophile,” referencing Trump’s close connections to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. She laughed while repeating the phrase in the voice of Tweety Bird, but then grew very emotional.
“I need to do something so that my grandchildren can have a future, she said,” her voice breaking. “And I don't want to be like the Germans in 1938 or 42 whatever, and they didn't know anything, and they didn't do anything. I want them to be able to grow up in a free America. And it's not going that way fast.”
Forest Ricks, 34, had her dog, River, with her and she wore an enormous papier mache toad head and carried a sign that read “Humans are embarrassing the rest of us. We only have one planet!”
“I wear it because I think that other animal species are doing a lot better than humans are doing right now. We need to be reminded to embrace our humanity,” she said. “What Trump's doing with other countries is extremely dangerous. There's not going to be a world for all of the species to enjoy if it gets ruined by the people in control.”
Watching the parade from his motorcycle along San Mateo, Emanuel Mathis had a sign indicating he was a veteran of the Vietnam War.
“I spent 20 years and 23 days willing to bleed for the Constitution,” it read. “Still willing to do the same. Are you? We have NO KING.”
Mathis, 87, said he rarely gets upset with the federal government. But he called Trump “a total disgrace.”
“I normally just go along with it, but this guy is just too much,” Mathis said. “Total disrespect for the Constitution, that that is the most important thing.”
Maisie McMaster, 17, had a shock of pink hair and a sign that read “War crimes don’t erase sex crimes.”
“I came out today because there's so much going wrong right now in the world and in New Mexico as well, and there's not enough awareness being brought up,” she said. “I'm sick of the [Epstein] files. I'm sick of the deporting. It's not good for America, and it's not what America stands for.”
Maria Stevens, 63, carried a sign that read “I had more rights as a young woman than I do now.”
“I remember going to an ERA [Equal Rights Amendment] rally a million years ago. And it's like, why are we having to do this again?” she said.
She pointed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but she is also concerned about the SAVE Act, which would, among other things, require people to show proof of U.S. citizenship to vote. Millions of people don’t have access to those documents and critics worry it would suppress voting.
“It's a poll tax underneath it all, and that's unconstitutional, and it's just trying to discriminate against people who may not have the resources to go through all that hassle,” Stevens said.
NPR asked the White House for comment on the protests Friday. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded “The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them.”
Beverly Nowak, 74, is thinking about the Iran war because she has grandsons who are draft age.
“So I'm get more and more concerned every day,” she said.
She has been attending protests since the Vietnam War and believes they are effective.
“If we're quiet, they're not going to pay attention. So, I do think it's very important.”
