About 100 people gathered for a No Kings protest in Murray on the corner of North 121 and 12th Street on March 28, displaying signs to all passing traffic.
The No Kings protest is a national front against the Trump administration and its policy, specifically in regard to ICE’s action toward immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, the mishandling of the Epstein files, the president’s activities in the files and the war in Iran. No Kings protests are conducted regularly in Kentucky cities like Paducah and Lexington, national cities like New York and Washington D.C and have also appeared worldwide in cities such as Paris and Tokyo.
Michael Stickler, a Vietnam War veteran, said he joined the protest to support the people against violence in the United States.
“We have been put in a position now that this is like neighbor against neighbor,” Stickler said. “That’s so wrong because we love our neighbors around the world, and that’s what we’re trying to emphasize here today.”
Mike Sorrendo, a Murray resident, waved a particular black and white flag with three down-pointed arrows. The flag belonged to the 1930’s German resistance group against the Nazi party — the Iron Front. Sorrendo said this flag flies at his house.
“Our resistance is probably going to be more successful,” Sorrendo said. “(The Iron Front) found it important to stand up for what they thought and believed in as far as government, and although they weren’t successful, I think they set kind of a bar for those of us who believe in democracy.”
Barbara Phillips, a Lexington resident, was visiting western Kentucky for the national geocache at Land Between the Lakes when the protest was announced.
“It’s a wonderful annual event,” Philips said about the geocache. “It’s part of the amazing splendor, wonder and beauty of our national forests and parks — which are being raped by the current administration.”
Philips told The News she and her family weren’t needed in Lexington to protest the president. With Philips’s family having academic ties to Murray State, paying property taxes in Marshall County and being a Kentuckian — protesting at an event like this means something.
“This is home, of course, Kentucky is one of those states that was divided in the Civil War in a way, and we’re headed that way now, and we hate to see it,” Philips said. “These (Murray folks), I’m very glad to see them. To us in Lexington, this is not a big deal, and this is a small crowd — but here in deepest, reddest Kentucky, this takes some courage … I’ve really enjoyed meeting the people that I’ve met here.”
Philips’s comment on courage was tested when a car swerved into protesters.
A woman protester, 59, who asked to be anonymous to protect her federal job, said the car swerved into them after its driver was swearing and heckling at them.
“(The driver) was leaning over, flipping us off, and obviously didn’t hold the wheel as much,” she said. “You could tell it was an accident. Like they were almost scared that it happened, too. But their (right) front wheel hit the curb and almost came up over the curb. You could hear it pop … it probably popped their tire.”
No one was hurt and the driver fled the scene.
While fellow protesters Jacque Watson and Peggy Veal shared similar sentiments with Philips, they said they wanted to know where the youth were, and they were not alone. Many protesters pulled aside a News staffer to ask the same question.
“We need to get some more young people because I know they’re getting disillusioned too,” Watson said. “They need to show up.”
Courtney Peery, the organizer of the Murray event, said this protest was not a part of the larger No Kings protest list for Kentucky cities. Instead, the Calloway County Human Rights Advocacy group, which also led the ICE Out protest on Feb, 17, organized the Murray event.
Peery said the turnout was “way bigger” than expected, and has “more than doubled” since February. Peery also said with a partnership in activism with Indivisible, another advocacy group planning to establish itself in Murray, she hopes the numbers will grow further.
Carolyne Sue Bonds Bonds • Mar 28, 2026 at 10:12 pm
Today was a positive event that revealed the passion behind people’s concern about the current administration, and the threat it presents to our democracy, as well as to world peace in general. I am amazed at how it has grown since the first event, as well as the support shown to the protesters by people who drove by.