Nearly 10,000 people gathered on Concord’s Main Street and at the New Hampshire state house on Oct. 18 to stand against authoritarianism as part of New Hampshire’s No Kings demonstrations against the Trump administration. The Upper Valley protest drew nearly 5,000 people — an increase of 1,000 from similar protests in June, according to the Valley News.
The Concord and Upper Valley protests, along with at least 34 simultaneous events across New Hampshire, were part of a nationwide campaign that drew about 7 million participants across the country, according to NBC News. Saturday’s demonstrations followed the first No Kings protests on June 14, which brought out more than 5 million people nationwide.
Sherry Boschert, who helped organize rallies in the Upper Valley for protest organization Indivisible, said she was protesting an administration that was turning “a democratic presidency” into “a dictatorship.”
“If you know anyone who’s been dragged off the streets by thugs wearing masks and not identifying themselves and are detained illegally for hours or days, of course you’d be alarmed,” Boschert said. “My father served in World War II and my grandfather in World War I. This is not what they were fighting for — to preserve democracy, just to see it shredded by the fascists.”
Hanover-Lyme Town Democrats chair Deborah Nelson organizes weekly anti-Trump protests in Hanover and attended the No Kings protest in San Francisco, Calif. She said she was “appalled” by a video Trump posted on Truth Social depicting him dumping feces on No Kings protesters.
“I never in a million years imagined that the president of the United States would be posting such repulsive messaging about his political opponents,” Deborah said. “He’s supposed to be president of the United States, and he’s made it very clear that as far as he's concerned, he's only president for Republicans.”
Samantha Grayer ’29, who attended a No Kings rally in Boston this weekend, said she felt “connected” to the young people around her at the event.
“It was really cool seeing so many people that were in my age group sharing the same value, the same belief,” Grayer said. “Being a college student and seeing so many young people out there made me feel even more connected to the cause.”
“There were so many fun signs to read and live music going on,” she added. “This lighthearted mood pushes back against the far right, who are trying to characterize liberals as terrorists.”
N.H. State Rep. Jared Sullivan, D-Grafton, who attended the No Kings protest in Littleton, N.H., said making the protest “fun” helped “bring awareness of the situation to the broader public.”
“We realize it’s serious, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun,” Sullivan said. “You can still enjoy and build community around a serious issue.”
In an interview with The Dartmouth, N.H. State Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, said that while he “respects” the protesters’ right to express their opinions, he does not believe “the people who protested represent the majority opinion in this country.”
“I think they are the minority opinion, which is why they have so little power in government,” Murphy said. “I don’t think anyone in Washington is very concerned about the protests.”
N.H. State Rep. Matt Coker, R-Belknap, criticized the protests for focusing on the wrong issues, saying he is tired of “political showmanship.”
“Average, everyday people aren’t concerned about a lot of the stuff that I’ve seen at these protests,” Cocker said. “They’re concerned about the cost of living and being able to find good jobs. Try to stay focused on what people actually want in their lives.”
He added that both the Democratic and Republican parties aren’t listening to the people.
“Both parties are almost irrecoverably lost,” Coker said. “They listen to special interests and normal people are starting to get sick of it.”
N.H. State Rep. David Luneau, D-Merrimack, stressed the importance of “taking a stand.”
“It’s going to require more than just voting,” Luneau said. “It’s going to require being there, testifying, supporting candidates and running for office.”
Correction Appended (Oct 23, 1:54 p.m.): A previous version of this story erroneously described Boschert as an organizer for indivisible.
