All photos by Mike Chapman for A News Cafe. Upwards of 2,500 protesters joined the No Kings demonstration along Cypress Avenue in Redding on June 14, 2025.
Redding on Saturday witnessed its largest anti-Trump protest so far in solidarity with similar No Kings demonstrations across the nation.
Upwards of 2,500 people, according to one reliable count, turned out at the height of the demonstration that was promoted locally by the group, Shasta Coalition.
People not only carried signs, some danced on the sidewalk as others took selfies along Cypress Avenue near Redding City Hall. At times, drivers who honked their horns in support drowned out the anti-administration chants.
For some, it was their first protest. For others, it was a replay from demonstrations they attended more than 50 years ago during times of similar national unrest.
Of course, being Redding, a handful of pro-MAGA pickup drivers drove past the throng with their Trump banners. At one point, a Trump supporter stopped his vintage pickup in the middle of the street, drawing jeers from nearby sign-wavers.
A Trump supporter makes a call while his pickup is stopped on Cypress Avenue and ties up westbound traffic during the anti-Trump protest in Redding on Saturday, June 15, 2025.
The No Kings protest was part of a nationwide event to counter the president’s military parade and spectacle in Washington, D.C.
The Redding assembly appeared peaceful – joyful even – as demonstrators condemned Trump and the chaos he’s created in his short time in office.
A passenger shows his feelings for the president during the anti-Trump protest in Redding on Saturday, June 15, 2025.
The 9 a.m. protest was billed as an hourlong demonstration but it didn’t wind down until 11:30 a.m. as groups spent time marching up and down Cypress Avenue all the way to Safeway to the west and Hartnell Avenue to the east.
In this account, A News Cafe takes a deeper look into the various motivations of some of those who participated. Some preferred not to give their full name, or remain anonymous, for fear of reprisals.
Here’s what a dozen or so of the protesters had to say, and they didn’t hold back.
Mike Smith
Mike Smith of Redding joins the No Kings protest by waving signs in the median along busy Cypress Avenue on Saturday, June 14, 2025. His T-shirt says, “Freedom is not free.”
Redding resident Mike Smith brought a U.S. flag and a sign that read “No Kings” with a crossed-out crown. An early bird, he stood in the Cypress Avenue median as cars whizzed by before the 9 a.m. demonstration officially got fully underway.
“I’m out here protesting what the government is doing,” Smith said, noting that Saturday in America also was Flag Day.
He said it’s obvious what Trump has been doing is wrong.
“I can’t see how the people who are working for him don’t see this. They’re just trying to get rich as well,” Smith said.
Mary
Mary, who gave her first name only, joined hundreds of fellow protesters Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall. She’s part of a group of pop-up demonstrators opposed to President Trump’s policies.
Mary carried a sign in support of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California).
She and like-minded supporters promote pop-up protests under the umbrella of shastacoalition.org.
“We’re just a group of concerned neighbors who are very worried about what’s happening to our country,” Mary said.
The nearly 40-year Redding resident said she and her small group began protesting at the beginning of May at city hall and they’re not letting up. Their next regular rally will be at 8 a.m. Friday at the Hartnell Avenue/I-5 overpass.
“Now I’m more concerned about, are the Marines going to come and arrest us, the National Guard?” she said. “I’m worried that we’re losing our democracy. Look at what they did to our senator, Alex Padilla. Banana republic, right?”
(Federal agents handcuffed and forcibly removed Sen. Padilla, D-Calif., from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristin Noem’s immigration press conference this past week.)
Randy Smith
Randy Smith of Redding talks to another demonstrator on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Retired physician Randy Smith gave several reasons why he and his wife, Judy, came to the protest with an American flag.
“We seem to be going down an authoritarian pathway, which is very dangerous. That’s why we’re here,” Randy Smith said.
“We finally said we have to do something,” Judy Smith added.
“We have to be on the side of where we were before all this started,” Randy Smith said. “We had a peace-loving country. We’ve alienated our allies. We’ve messed up our federal government in the name of money-saving and at the same time, we’re spending some $45 million on a parade which I don’t support.”
(Saturday also marked the multimillion-dollar military parade in Washington, D.C., which celebrated the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary that also fell on Trump’s 79th birthday.)
“We are not a militaristic society or country, but we’re turning that way. And I don’t like it,” he said.
Judy Phelps
Judy Phelps displayed a flag in solidarity with Ukraine along with a No Kings sign on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Judy Phelps stood among small purple flags on a lawn outside city hall marking Elder Abuse Awareness Month while holding a flag representing Ukraine. Beside her was a homemade “No Kings! in America” sign with a heart-shaped U.S. flag.
“I stand for Ukraine and I’m against Trump trying to be king,” she said.
“I’ve never liked him since he had that Access Hollywood tape (from 2005) that said he could grab women and he could do it without getting in trouble because he was a celebrity,” she said.
Laura Shackelford
Laura Shackelford wore a 3-D No Kings symbol made from pool noodles during the protest on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Laura Shackelford sported one of the most original protest get-ups Saturday. She waved a small American flag while dressed in a wraparound No Kings symbol made with pink pool noodles.
“I did this this morning. It was like, ‘Ooh, I have an idea,’” she said.
“And I have the ‘no’ in the back, too. You can see me in either direction. (The flag) is for the United States because there’s no kings, no dictators where you have a Constitution here,” she said.
Shackelford, a retired teacher and social worker who’s pushing 70, said she remembers protesting 50 years ago on behalf of women’s rights.
“When I was 19, I noticed a guy that had two years’ less experience than me. He was getting a dollar an hour more than me and I was told it was because he had a family and he was a man. That was in the ’70s,” she said. “I didn’t realize I could’ve done something about it.”
“And here we are again, and women are still getting paid less. We’re still fighting for the same thing – women’s rights, women’s reproductive rights,” she said.
“I was protesting men and I’m going to continue. Not for me, but I have granddaughters and grandsons,” Shackelford added.
Bill Donnelly
Bill Donnelly’s sign describes his feelings toward the president during the protest on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Bill Donnelly’s sign was titled Benedict Donald Trump and listed a score of grievances against the president.
“I think he’s a treasonous traitor,” he said. “Just all the stuff that he’s done and all the stuff that he hasn’t done basically. He’s trying to destroy America. He’s ruining America.”
Donnelly cited what he calls the “wanton destruction of our governmental agencies and institutions.”
Silvia
Silvia, who declined to give her last name, and her friend join the sidewalk demonstration on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Silvia, who preferred to give her first name only, said she’s from Los Angeles and joined the anti-Trump rally for several reasons.
The 22-year-old said her parents are teachers and she’s been going to protests in support of public education since she was 8.
“My first protest actually was for the Los Angeles Unified School District to make classroom sizes smaller,” she said.
Later, she said her high school in Lincoln Heights emphasized environmental and social policies.
“They really incentivized exercising your amendments and your rights to protest,” she said.
Silvia, who described herself as half-Mexican, said her grandmother came to the U.S. as a younger woman and it took her 30 years to achieve full citizenship, despite her legal status from being married twice.
A protester gave her a pen and a blank sign so she could compose her own message.
“I’ll probably write something about the cultural hate that’s been shifted toward immigrants. I’m really upset about it. It’s been like years of American settlers doing shit to Mexicans, to Native Americans, to Black people, to Asian-Americans,” she said.
Silvia started writing her words by saying “Fuck ICE, Fuck Trump.”
Silvia makes her own sign with harsh words for Trump and ICE on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Her Marine Corps friend, who didn’t want to be part of her interview, carried a U.S. Marine Corps flag. “The Marines have no business being a civil enforcement unit. That’s not our job,” he said. “This is America – the land of the free.”
Cindy Franck and Michael Perkin
Cindy Franck and Michael Perkin wear shirts that say “Stop ICE” during the anti-Trump rally on Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of Redding City Hall.
Cindy Franck waved a flag that proclaimed “Everyone is welcome” while Michael Perkin held a sign that backed Social Security but on the flip side said, “Impeach orange Nazi felon.” Both had T-shirts that urged “Stop ICE.”
Franck bashed Trump for curtailing health and social programs. She also doesn’t agree with the president’s unlawful treatment of undocumented immigrants.
“I’m upset that he’s destroying Medicaid and all the services that people rely on, defunding them and defunding education. And then also he’s not going by the rule of law anymore – the fact that they’re not giving due process to people that are in the process of getting their legal citizenship. They’re just kidnapping them without due process,” she said.
Allison and Steve Modifer
Allison Modifer of Shingletown carried a sign that emphasized the Saturday No Kings protest was a peaceful assembly.
Allison Modifer of Shingletown was getting a positive reaction while carrying a sign that read: “Peaceful protest – My 1st Amendment right.”
“People are putting their thumb up,” she said.
Her husband, Steve, exercised his own free-speech rights with a bolder sign: “Trump is a turd. Give him a royal flush. No kings in USA.”
Fellow protesters told Steve Modifer of Shingletown that his sign was the best they’d seen all day.
“This is exactly what I wanted to say that matched the moment. He is a turd. You know, it’s Trump and we should give him a royal flush,” he said. “People have been walking up to me today saying this is the best sign they’ve seen all day.”
Brooke McGowen
Brooke McGowen of Redding Resistance, who’s been part of the protests in Redding for weeks, said she was overwhelmed by both Saturday’s turnout and protesters’ creativity.
“I am so happy that Redding is such an amazing city … there’s so many people out here standing up for freedom and democracy and for being a decent human being for compassion and for human values,” McGowen said.
“That’s what this is all about. It’s all about getting out there, getting heard and not accepting this fascist takeover that’s going on. It’s very scary but we can push back and we can really prevent it just with the power of people’s voices,” she said.
Instead of carrying her own sign Saturday, McGowen took photos of everyone else’s.
“The creativity and the ideas and the inspiration in these signs show how passionate people are,” McGowen said. “Whether it’s veterans, whether it’s health care, whether it’s just standing up for democracy or no ICE in California or protecting our elected officials, everyone has their take on it and they found a way to really put it out there with these creative, funny signs.”
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