Deering Oaks Hosts No Kings Day Protest

Published: October 27, 2025

Saturday, Oct. 18th marked yet another No Kings protest. Deering Oaks Park in Portland, Maine, not far from the University of Southern Maine campus, hosted more than 500 people. Sources disagreed on the exact number of participants, but event organizers estimated the crowd at about 5,000. With hundreds of unique signs and outfits, the goal was the same: to show that America does not bow down to kings. 

Speakers included Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Evan Murray from the League of Women Voters of Maine, and Maine state senate candidate David Costello. Many others also spoke and each and every one of them talked about the importance of democracy and addressed the crowd’s worries and complaints about having America under the rule of a “king.” Along with speakers, there were musical performances from artists like Andrea Cole and Lynn Deeves, who sang original pieces. Other performers included Glen DeCosta, a saxophone player that is known for his time playing with Bob Marley and the Wailors. 

Gallery • 3 Photos

No Kings poster with blow-up dinosaur costume in background

Bellows’ mentioned something that really stood out to members of the audience. She said that “courage is contagious.” Members of the community can be seen as courageous just by coming to the protest, especially when people protesting have been described as “haters of America,” by House Speaker Mike Johnson and others. There were a few times during the event where speakers asked the crowd if Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was correct in saying that they hated America. Each time that question was asked, the crowd promptly and firmly said no. 

There was a mix of elderly people, college students, mothers and fathers with their children, and many other people with different backgrounds there. For some attendees, this was the first protest they had attended. Hunter Gilmore, a junior year student at USM attended the protest in the park. They have recently become politically active and they shared that “going to this protest is a way for me to go out and fight for our democracy, our freedom of speech, our healthcare, our safety and people’s peace. It felt important to go out there because it is necessary for our future.” Without a doubt, the protestors at least left with a sense of unity and possibly even hope for the future.