- Thousands of protestors gathered on the Indiana Statehouse lawn Saturday for the No Kings 2.0 protest, led by Indivisible Central Indiana with help from Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, MADVoters Indiana and Women4Change in opposition of the Trump administration’s agenda, including immigration arrests and early redistricting efforts.
The Indianapolis protest was one of 44 taking place across the state in cities as large as Fort Wayne and small as Brookville, with nearly 3,000 demonstrations occurring across the country and an estimated 7 million people in total attending. This second nationwide protest was planned by several nonprofits and organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers and the League of Conservation Voters.
Protesters at Saturday’s No Kings rally at the Indiana Statehouse pose with their signs.
Photo by Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com.
Jennifer Midkiff, a professional harpist and music teacher from Noblesville, sang Woody Guthrie’s “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” shortly after No Kings 2.0 began at 11 a.m. The weather was crisp, sunny and breezy—a sharp contrast to the rainy, overcast No Kings protest on June 14. Instead of chanting from beneath raincoats and umbrellas, several attendees donned inflatable costumes of dinosaurs, unicorns and chickens, perhaps inspired by recent Portland, Oregon, protestors who dressed as inflatable frogs as they demonstrated against ICE arrests.
“We got a zoo here,” said one man.
Rev. David Green, president of Concerned Clergy of Greater Indianapolis, followed the live music with a speech.
Danielle Cooney recalls her time in the foster care system during her speech at the No Kings 2.0 protest Saturday at the Indiana Statehouse.
Photo by Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com.
“In America, we don’t value kings; we value democracy,” he said. “We’re not subjects, we’re citizens.”
Every anecdote and speech was met with cheers and applause from the crowd. Protestors held U.S. and Indiana flags, chanting phrases like, “When Trump says get back, we say fight back.” Some wore red hats, but instead of MAGA slogans, they bore puns like, “Arrest Trump 2026.” Others raised signs with the words, “Honk if you’re not in the Epstein Files.” Drivers on North Capitol Avenue listened, and beeps and the sound of revving car engines rose from the road.
A few paces away on the Statehouse lawn, a man was making giant bubbles for children to jump through, and protestors’ pets wagged their tails at passersby or lay asleep on the grass.
Indianapolis’ No Kings 2.0 protest Saturday at the Indiana Statehouse was one of nearly 3,000 occurring across the country.
Photo by Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com.
“I am angry and disgusted by what is happening in this country, aren’t you?” asked Karla López Owens.
From the Statehouse stairs, she relayed her experience as an immigrant from Mexico who became the first college graduate in her family. She is now a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and president of the Indiana Latinx Democratic Caucus.
Her story was followed by an anecdote from Danielle Cooney, a member of Live Free Indiana, about her own childhood. When her father was incarcerated for child abuse and the murder of her baby sister, 7-year-old Cooney was placed in the foster-care system. Now a foster mother herself, she advocated for other families separated, but this time by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests.
She said the ICE detainees in the Marion County Jail are not criminals and are placed in a system that treats them as “less than human.”
“What is happening in Chicago could happen in Indianapolis,” Cooney said.
Indianapolis’ No Kings 2.0 protest Saturday at the Indiana Statehouse was one of nearly 3,000 occurring across the country.
Photo by Olivia O’Neal, TheStatehouseFile.com.
Several speakers condemned ICE arrestsand early redistricting.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, told the thousands of protestors that if the Trump administration is successful, the results could be Medicaid cuts, cuts to the Child Care Development Fund, which provides financial assistance to low-income families for child care, and the shifting of power and money to the ultra wealthy.
Qaddoura urged Indiana residents to contact state lawmakers and voice their concerns.
“Tell them we are Hoosiers. We live as honest people, and we don’t respect or support cheaters,” he said. “Hoosiers, let’s get to work.”
Olivia O’Neal is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
