Photograph by Emma Balcom
Thousands joined the protests that took place across Greater Cincinnati as part of the “No Kings” movement occurring nationwide in opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration.
On Saturday, June 14, protests swept across the region in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Loveland, Mason, Middletown, Oxford, Union Township, and West Chester Township—a handful of the 100 taking place in Ohio and about 2,000 across the country.
About 10,000 protesters took part in Cincinnati’s protest, according to Jack Cunningham, a local Democratic activist and member of the 50501 Movement, who organized several of the regional “No Kings” protests.
Also organized by activist group Indivisible and its partners, “No Kings” is a national day of action established in response to “increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption” it alleges exists in the current administration. It was held on June 14—also Flag Day and Trump’s 79th birthday—in opposition to the $45 million military parade that the Trump administration organized in Washington, D.C., in honor of the Army’s 250th anniversary.
Photograph by Emma Balcom
The Cincinnati march and rally was organized in partnership with the local branch of 50501, a protest movement meaning “50 protests. 50 states. 1 day.” 50501 has assisted in organizing various protests since February, the largest of which has been the April 5 “Hands Off” movement, which drew about 3,000 in the Queen City.
The weekend’s “No Kings” protests tripled those numbers—a fact that Cunningham says he hopes will make a statement to City Council.
“[The goal is] that they finally listen to us. That they finally realize that they are out of political capital, and if they wish to do right by us, they will stand with us,” says Cunningham, adding that Cincinnati 50501 is currently circulating a petition “to make sure that Cincinnati remains a sanctuary city,” as well as request that city administration cancel all contracts with ICE and stand in support of “No Kings” and other marches.
Photograph by Emma Balcom
This isn’t Cunningham’s first time asking City Council to take a stand. He last attended council’s Citizens’ Forum on July 11 to call for the city to take a stance in opposition to the Trump administration’s federalization of the National Guard in response to protests that have broken out in Los Angeles.
“It hurts me to my core the silence I am hearing from not just people here, but people all across this country, as our brothers and sisters are being harmed and put in harm’s way by this president,” he said. “This is not a regular moment, and I am calling on you as leaders to defend us to the best of your ability, because we have hundreds of thousands of people in Cincinnati and they need your leadership now more than ever.”
Saturday’s protest started with a march, which began at University Circle at the University of Cincinnati and finished in Burnet Woods. It was followed by a slew of speakers from organizations including the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Council, the Trans Empowerment Network, Transformations CDC, the Cincinnati branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, UC’s Students for Justice in Palestine, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Photograph by Emma Balcom
However, despite the high attendance, the protest didn’t come without controversy. Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich received backlash for a Facebook post she made and deleted, which name-called the Trump administration for being “incompetent, selfish, [and] uneducated,” and accused him of seeking to “destroy our democracy.” She then asked followers to join her in attending the protest.
Advocates at “No Kings,” meanwhile, spoke out against the 47th presidential administration’s response to the Israel-Palestine war taking place in Gaza, erasure of trans American identities, and ICE raids and arrests taking place both across the nation and in Cincinnati.
In March, two workers who assisted in a construction project at the Butler County Sheriff’s Office were found to be undocumented and subsequently arrested, and earlier this month, ICE raids in East Price Hill resulted in the arrest of four undocumented immigrants. All are being held at the Butler County Jail, who has a partnership with ICE, on behalf of the immigration enforcement agency. According to reports at the time, the sheriff’s office said that more than 300 undocumented immigrants were being held at the jail for ICE.
One of the most recent detainees at the jail is 19-year-old Emerson Colindres, a recent Dater High School graduate and soccer player for Cincy Galaxy, who at 8 years old immigrated to the U.S. from Honduras with his family to seek asylum. During what was intended to be a routine check-in with the U.S. ICE Office in Blue Ash as part of its Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, Colindres was arrested—despite having no criminal background—and has been held at the Butler County Jail on behalf of ICE ever since.
The ISAP is an alternative to detention for undocumented immigrants that, according to the ICE website, “enables aliens to remain in their communities as they move through immigration proceedings or prepare for departure.” Colindres’s arrest made national headlines, and a GoFundMe to assist his family with legal and travel expenses has raised more than $15,000.
Photograph by Emma Balcom
Speakers at the “No Kings” protest also lauded a petition for a statewide referendum on Ohio’s Senate Bill 1, otherwise known as the “Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act.” Sponsored by Sen. Jerry Cirino, the bill would restructure the terms of boards of trustees; restrict educational curricula on “controversial subjects” including climate change, electoral policies, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, and abortion; and eliminate DEI. Universities that don’t comply would lose state funding.
The referendum would halt enactment of the bill until Ohioans are able to vote on it during the November election. According to organizers, the petition needs 250,000 signatures to be eligible for the ballot.
According to Cunningham and other protest organizers, the next planned protest will be on July 4 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. “After that, who knows,” Cunningham says.
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