Cambridge was among the thousands of places nationwide that saw ‘No Kings’ protests and rallies. More than 160 events happened across Massachusetts alone, second only to California, which hosted more than 320 rallies.
There were at least two protests in Cambridge. At 10 a.m. at the intersection of Mount Auburn Street and Gerry’s Landing Road, more than a dozen senior citizens lined up near the bus stop in front of the center or clustered, wheelchairs and all, on the traffic island at the intersection.
“Some of us can’t go to the other one so we’re doing what we can,” said Judy Young, who was pushing a rolling walker with a handmade sign that read “No Kings! Bridges for/by “THE PEOPLE.””
These were not 1960s-era protestors revisiting their youth. “This is the first time I’ve come out to protest something,” Young said. “There’s nothing I can do about my ethnicity in this climate,” referring to being Asian American, but she said she could take this small action.
Like Young, Polly Malcolm said she had also never protested anything before. “I was taking care of babies,” Malcolm said of her younger days.
Now, Malcolm is going to Burlington every Wednesday to take part in the ongoing protests at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office there. Most of these protestors live in Cambridge Homes on Mount Auburn. Since Malcolm moved in just a few weeks ago, she’s organized daily sign-holding at the intersection, no matter the weather. “She’s galvanized us,” said Penny Janeway, another protestor.
The group was mostly greeted by cars honking and people waving. A Black man out for a run yelled out “Thank you!” Janeway said that during their daily protests, White men in pickup trucks “usually give us the middle finger,” but on Saturday “four or five have honked and waved.”
Malcolm said “putting your body out there is the thing that creates change. We’re all old and this is something we can do.” She added, “I’m full of hope.”
Gathering on the Common
A few hundred people gathered at the Cambridge Common from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was organized by Craig Kelley, a former city councilor, and Katinka Hakuta. A few hundred people came including one dressed as a Tyrannosaurus rex. They lined the fence along Massachusetts Avenue waving signs and chanting.
Kelley, who spent nearly 20 years as a contractor for the U.S. Army Reserve, said the protest was inspired by Thomas Paine’s political pamphlet “Common Sense.” What the pamphlet emphasized was “that royalty exists does not lead to a better world,” he said. “[Paine] was right, 250 years later, he’s still right – that’s the message we are spreading today.”
Among those at the Common were Saeed Jones, who brought a sign whose primary message was, “Listen to Black People.” Jones is a poet who moved to Cambridge two years ago from Columbus, Ohio, to be an artist-in-residence at Harvard Medical School. He said he came to the protest in part to get to know his community better, and because “The violent atmosphere we’re living in has been unacceptable for a long time. Taking it in in isolation or on social media is not enough. It’s healthy and important to be here.”
Also present was Tumaini, a nine-year-old, and her parents. Tumaini said she had come to the No Kings protest because she felt the president “is being like a king – and not letting the people have their say.”
Dana Gardner came from the Lakes Region in New Hampshire to participate in the protest. He said there were protests in his area, but he came to the Common because “I was born in Cambridge, grew up here for five years and then lived here in my 20s. I wanted to be here.”
Protestors March on
Many of those gathered headed to Boston Common afterward for a rally that organizers claimed drew more than 150,000 people.
Julie Craven, a Cambridge resident who has been involved in the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition protests, said she knew many people who, like herself, went only to the main Boston Common protest.
Craven spoke at a brief rally outside a Citizens Bank branch in the heart of the city, a block away from the Boston Common. The rally was organized by groups including the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT-MA) and the De-ICE Citizens Bank Coalition.
Craven led off the rally with a rousing call-to-action. “We are the De-ICE Citizens Bank coalition, a growing number of activists across 13 states, here to demand Citizens stops funding ICE Prisons,” she proclaimed loudly into the microphone. “Join us in ratcheting up the pressure and showing all corporations, there is a cost to doing business with evil.”
After speeches from several union heads and Reservoir Church Pastor Steve Watson, BVOCAL, a street protest chorus which has also taken part in the Citizens Bank protests in Cambridge, performed catchy protest songs.
“If you are among the lenders financing detention centers, we’re not gonna bank here anymore,” sang the group and gathered crowd to the theme of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”.
Then the group posed for photos outside of the bank before marching toward Park Street T-station. The march then snaked its way through the Common, before eventually disbanding at the main stage on the other side of the park.
Speakers at the Boston Common included Sen. Ed Markey and Governor Maura Healy. Also speaking was Milford high school student Marcelo Gomes da Silva, who was detained by ICE in May 2025. He spoke about the fear that immigration enforcement had instilled in many communities across the country.
Connor Walters, a legal assistant who works on immigration law, came to Boston from Lakeville. He said the scale of the crowd had given him hope in collective action. “I have been involved in protests for years, and there has been this mantra, ‘Whose streets? Our streets,’ and it’s only like a hundred people,” he said. “I can’t help but feel like [in these cases] we are trying to convince ourselves.”
“But here,” Walters said, “I’m convinced.”
Michael F. Fitzgerald contributed to this story.
This story was updated to correct the name of Connor Walters’ place of residence, which is Lakeville.
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