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More than 1,000 protesters may have lined Broad Street in Falls Church on Saturday, Oct. 18, as the city’s second No Kings rally drew a larger crowd and covered more ground than the June 14 demonstration, according to organizers.

Sign-waving and flag-carrying participants stretched roughly 2.2 miles, from Roosevelt Street to Haycock Road. The Falls Church gathering was one of an estimated 2,700 rallies held nationwide, where organizers said about 7 million people protested actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration since he returned to office in January 2025.

Democracy Falls Church and Falls Church Indivisible organized the local event, dividing responsibilities along Route 29. Falls Church Indivisible handled the western portion, while Democracy Falls Church coordinated the eastern side.

Participants were encouraged to carry American flags and make patriotic signs emphasizing constitutional government, civil rights and opposition to monarchy and authoritarianism. The groups’ websites describe threats they perceive to due process, free expression, judicial independence, fair elections and other democratic institutions.

Chants and vehicle horns filled Broad Street. Some demonstrators wore cartoonish inflatable costumes, a tactic used at recent protests in Portland, Oregon, both to obscure faces from surveillance and to ridicule displays of government force.

Organizers said many participants appeared reluctant to provide their names or be photographed because they feared retaliation. That concern may also have contributed to advance registrations falling well below the eventual turnout.

Organizers See Growth Despite Low Registration

At Democracy Falls Church’s tent in the Falls Church Episcopal parking lot, organizer Ben Allard said the crowd surpassed expectations.

“We weren’t totally sure what to expect in terms of today’s turnout,” Allard said, adding that some people may have avoided registering because they feared a federal crackdown on speech.

The two organizations had hoped to exceed the June turnout and extend the rally from Roosevelt Street in the east to the Giant near Haycock Road in the west.

“And it looks like we did it,” Allard said. “We got more people and kind of stretched through the City.”

Only about one-third of those who attended may have registered online beforehand, he estimated. Allard said Democracy Falls Church’s mailing list typically grows after large events.

Allard said he became more deeply involved after concluding that electoral work alone was insufficient. Following Joe Biden’s election, he initially believed the immediate political crisis had passed. Trump’s return changed that assessment, he said, and convinced him that people concerned about democracy needed to organize continuously.

He urged protesters to remain active after the rally by connecting with Indivisible chapters, mutual-aid organizations, ICE Watch networks and migrant-solidarity groups.

“Don’t wait for the next protest,” he said.

Organizer Louise Hilsen displayed signs painted by a furloughed federal worker who did not want to be publicly connected to the event. Hilsen said she also declined to register because she did not trust the government to handle such information properly.

Calling attendance “an act of courage,” she said the latest rally appeared to attract more families and young people than the June event. It also extended across more blocks while maintaining an enthusiastic crowd.

Lisa Margarella said she joined Democracy Falls Church after seeing an invitation from Allard for people interested in separating fact from fiction. The group began with only a handful of participants, she recalled, united by a broad range of concerns.

Margarella said making signs and buttons, sharing information and helping residents feel heard gave her a way to act instead of remaining at home. Her leading concerns include the erosion of rights and declining trust in news and information.

“I know it’s a scary time and people are afraid to have their faces out there,” she said. “But we have to.”

Rights, Jobs and Federal Cuts Drive Protesters

Rally marshals Sally Brett, Lauren Budetti and former Falls Church City Council member Marty Meserve handed out water, pocket-size copies of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and copies of Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny. By that point, they had run out of flags, buttons and stickers.

Brett said she volunteered because she loves the country and fears it is being damaged by “greed and vengeance.”

Budetti cited threats to democratic institutions and civil rights, along with job losses affecting federal workers and contractors. She said people she knows have been affected by changes involving the Department of Education and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Brett also criticized USAID’s dismantling, pointing to humanitarian and development work by friends in Tanzania and Peru. Such programs helped other countries see the United States as a constructive partner, she said.

Federal layoffs and threats to legal protections have also motivated her activism.

“When you take away somebody’s due process rights, you take away everybody’s due process rights,” Brett said.

Budetti noted that Falls Church Indivisible also holds a weekly flag-and-sign gathering from 8:30 to 9 a.m. Fridays at Washington and Broad streets and displays signs over Interstate 66.

Three Arlington residents—Didi, her high school-aged daughter Ella, and Ella’s classmate Hannah—were walking toward Broad Street with protest signs when they discussed why they attended.

Ella said it was her first protest. Her sign read “Love Wins,” reflecting her concern about threats facing LGBTQ people.

Hannah said she had attended demonstrations during Trump’s first term. Her family was participating in the No Kings rally in Washington, D.C., but another commitment kept her closer to home.

She said government actions had affected people around her. Her father, who builds projects for the government, had been laid off, while parents of friends had experienced consequences from the government shutdown. Her sign declared, “Hate doesn’t make us great.”

Didi said she was concerned about potentially illegal government conduct and unreliable information in the media. She tries to consult sources from across the political spectrum, she said.

Her sign read, “We are not the enemy.” Didi said she chose the message in response to rhetoric describing protesters as enemies or terrorists.

Anne Lancaster carried a two-sided sign reading “Reject the Fascist Takeover” and “We Shall Overcome.” She said her Virginia family roots extend to Jamestown and include a connection to James Madison, a history that informs her constitutional views.

Lancaster accused the administration of disregarding court rulings, improperly deploying the National Guard and dismantling federal institutions. A division of the Department of Health and Human Services with which she held a contract was eliminated, she said.

She also criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing that he lacks medical training and has promoted harmful ideas while weakening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The whole thing’s crazy,” Lancaster said. “It’s just unbelievable. And it gets worse every day.”