The national coordinated No Kings mass protest movement had another big day March 28, 2026. I talked to protesters in Troutdale, Gresham, Damascus, and Sandy about the protest. The main themes were concerns about the health of democracy, ICE brutality, and the ongoing military engagement with Iran.
Troutdale
In Troutdale, I found a handful of people standing around in a parking lot getting ready to drive around with flags on their vehicles. I talked to Iris, who said their reasons for participating in the protest was to oppose war, authoritarianism, and the genocide in Gaza. To them "authoritarianism boils down to the will of the people doesn't matter. Iris saw examples of this in continued US support for Israel and "ICE hunting people" when the majority of Americans oppose both.
Gresham
In Gresham, US Senator Ron Wyden, Oregon Senator Chris Gorsek, and State Representative Zach Hudson were among the political figures who spoke.
I spoke with several attendees of the Gresham rally including Ally and Erent. Ally, 12, told me she was there protesting against Trump with her family. She told me that Trump “thinks he’s trying to make America great when he’s making it worse.” and that he’s “trying to take people’s rights away” and take people from their homes. Erent, 73, a military veteran emphasized the military’s oath to the constitution which he said Trump was attacking. Erent said Trump is “tearing down every guardrail there is; He thinks he’s a dictator.” Erent said that Trump’s attacks on Iran effectively amount to declaring war without approval from Congress: “that’s the prerogative of Congress not the President.”
Damascus
At the Damascus protest Mo, 74, said, “I love living in this country with democracy;” and that she opposed political rhetoric about ICE agents being hypothetically used to patrol voting locations, which she sees as evidence of democracy being under threat.
Rhonda, 69, said that she was there “to resist this take over of our government and our democracy.” Rhonda also agrees that the president “declared war without asking Congress.” Rhonda says that Trump “started a war he doesn’t know how to finish.” I counted 182 people at the protest in Damascus.
Sandy
In Sandy, Margret said they were protesting the fascist Trump regime that doesn’t believe in due process or the rule of law. To them clear examples of this were the actions of ICE agents taking people from their homes without warrants, dragging people out their cars and people being deported to countries to which they had no connection.
Michael said that the Trump "administration is trying to ruin the country and turn it into an authoritarian state," and enriching itself in the process. He said he viewed Trump's claims that peace talks were underway with Iran as being done so he could enable insider trading. He also expressed concern that Trump's threats to bomb Iran's infrastructure would be a violation of the laws of war and the Geneva conventions. Organizers count of attendees at the Sandy protest was 413.