Local Communities Join National No Kings Protests

On March 27 and 28, local communities across Michigan joined the over 3,000 No Kings protests across the nation. This was the third No Kings event since the movement’s creation in June 2025, and groups involved included the Chelsea, Milan and Saline chapters of Indivisible and the local Dexter Strong.

“We’re here to stand up and speak,” Dexter Strong’s Susan Filipiak said.

Every Friday since April 2025, Dexter Strong has organized a peaceful protest in Monument Park to raise awareness of their cause. Citing what they see as worrying trends in healthcare, housing, and voting rights, across the county protestors said they are standing up for the rights of people and safety nets that are being threatened by the current administration.

“Despite the havoc that the Trump administration has wreaked on our communities, I still believe that we live in a democracy, and I still believe that the Constitution is the rule of law, and because I believe that, I believe that we the people hold the line,” law student Nithya Arun said at the Chelsea protest, which took place at Pierce Park. “I still believe that we the people will hold government officials accountable for their misgivings and their misdeeds.”

Combining the headcounts of the Milan, Saline, Dexter and Chelsea rallies totals to over 1,000 participants. Across the country, the estimates reach nearly eight million. Speakers at local events included mayors, city and state representatives, activists, and in Chelsea, the high school student Zoey Bendena, who organized the recent Chelsea High School walkout in protest of ICE’s increased activity across the country.

“Please continue to use your voices,” Bendena said. “Protest, vote, picket, anything you can, and, most importantly, be there for each other. They want us to turn on each other and fend for ourselves. Our greatest weapon is community. Events like these give me hope that even though I’m entering the adult world filled with fear and continual harmful legislation that we will continue to do what we do best, be there for each other, protect each other, to embody the principles of what the United States should be.”