Hundreds rally in Richmond as part of nationwide 'No Kings' movement

Several hundred Richmond residents gathered Saturday morning at Civic Center Plaza for a "No Kings Richmond" march and rally, part of a nationwide day of protest against what organizers described as threats to democratic governance by the Trump administration.

The event, organized by a coalition of local groups including United Teachers of Richmond, Richmond Indivisible, East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, Richmond Progressive Alliance, and the Contra Costa Labor Council, began at 10 a.m. with participants forming a human banner before marching through city streets to a rally at 25th Street and Barrett Avenue.

The gathering drew speakers ranging from local elected officials to students, union members, and immigrant rights advocates, all who were united around opposition to immigration enforcement raids, federal spending cuts, and what several speakers called authoritarian overreach.

The rally came less than a week after a widely circulated video showed ICE agents arresting a woman and a child inside San Francisco International Airport. The Department of Homeland Security identified the pair as Angelina Lopez-Jimenez and Wendy Godinez-Lopez, saying they had final removal orders issued by an immigration judge in 2019. Video of the arrest spread quickly on social media, showing the woman crying on her knees while plainclothes agents stood nearby.

Francisco Ortiz, president of United Teachers of Richmond, referenced the incident as he addressed the crowd from the bed of a pickup truck.

"A young student, Wendy from Downer Elementary, watched as she and her mother were taken away at San Francisco International Airport by ICE agents without any kind of identification," Ortiz said. "This was done in public with no regard for the trauma inflicted on a child, on a family, or on a school community that loves that child. What happened was not just policy, it was pain, it was fear, it was injustice made visible."

Marisol Cantu of Reimagine Richmond described the daily fear residents are experiencing.

"Immigrants are afraid to pick up their children from schools," Cantu said. "They are afraid to walk down 23rd Street. Teachers are calling right now to see if it's okay to let their children go home after school."

Cantu said her organization's phone line has been fielding calls from residents asking whether it is safe to go to the grocery store, ride the bus on San Pablo Avenue, or visit local restaurants.

"This is not only in Minneapolis, not only in LA or even Chicago," she said. "That is not freedom. That is not democracy. That is terror."

Cantu closed her remarks with a direct appeal to the crowd. "Show up even when it's fucking uncomfortable," she said. "Show the fuck up. Organize your neighbors, your friends, and your families."

Richmond City Councilmember Claudia Jimenez, speaking in English and Spanish, described what she called the "lived reality" of fear in the city.

"It looks like a young woman hiding in a bathroom at Target, too afraid to walk out because she thought security was ICE," Jimenez said. "It looks like empty chairs in classrooms because children are too afraid to go to school, afraid their parents might not be there when they come home."

Councilmember Doria Robinson invoked a children's book to frame the political moment.

"We were taught when we were growing up, there's this great book called 'The Emperor Has No Clothes,'" Robinson said. "When the emperor goes down the street naked, what are you supposed to say? You're naked, you don't have no clothes. Many people believe we can get through this moment. They think it's a storm, like you just duck and hide, and it'll pass over. But this isn't a storm. This is more like a cancer, and you can't hide from it. You gotta stand up, and you gotta fight back."

Marie Walcheck, a federal worker and union member, drew a contrast between public servants and the administration.

"The government does not belong to billionaires," Walcheck said. "It belongs to the people. We serve no king."

Julissa Blandon, a freshman at Contra Costa College and Richmond native, read an original poem she wrote for her Chicano studies class titled "A Letter to the Future Children," honoring immigrant families she said built Richmond.

"This was never getting rid of criminals," Blandon said. "It was an ethnic cleansing, and we need to start labeling it as such."

The Richmond event was among dozens held across the county Saturday. Organizers described the No Kings movement as having grown from a single-day action in 2025 into a sustained national resistance campaign.

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