Quick Take
About 3,000 protestors filled the environs of Watsonville’s downtown plaza Saturday afternoon, following a march through the streets of Santa Cruz that brought out about 12,000 Trump opponents in the third round of “No Kings” rallies.
About 3,000 packed Watsonville’s downtown plaza Saturday afternoon as the third “No Kings” rallies against the Trump administration continued in Santa Cruz County and across the country. The Watsonville event followed a march through Santa Cruz by about 12,000, as estimated by organizers.
“We are here because there is so much stuff going on that is so contradicting the founding principles of this country,” said Olivia Millard, one of the organizers on behalf of Indivisible Pajaro Valley.
Millard told Lookout that protesters were already gathering at the plaza and lining up along Main Street as early as 11 a.m. By noon, there were already a few hundred protesters waving their signs and singing songs of resistance, such as “We Shall Overcome,” led by former Watsonville poet laureate Bob Gómez.
“This is an insane number of people here in the plaza,” said Millard. The number at the plaza appeared similar to those who participated in October, when about 3,000 protesters gathered in force.
County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah energized the crowd with a fiery speech that condemned the Trump administration as a whole. “The last few months have been brutal and terrifying,” he said to the large crowd.
Sabbah said the times demand courage and clarity, and “it demands that we refuse to be silent.” As he took in the thousands of protesters around the plaza, Sabbah said he saw people who are not in fear, but rather people who refuse to look away and “not bend the knee to tyranny.”
“They call us a mob. We call this a movement,” Sabbah said.
Local rabbi Paula Marcus closed out the speaker programming in Watsonville, highlighting the importance of unity and diversity. “We reject authoritarianism. We stand for mutual support, not division,” she said. “We stand for workers’ rights, reproductive rights, trans rights, immigrant rights, voting rights, disability rights and so much more.” Marcus also led the crowd in singing the Holly Near anthem “Singing for Our Lives.”
Community organizations, such as Your Allied Rapid Response and the Watsonville Brown Berets, had tables set up around the plaza and were handing out “red cards” that detail rights immigrants have under the Constitution. Demonstrators also had the opportunity to register to vote, if they hadn’t already.
Like most protests in Watsonville, the community and its culture were at the forefront, with local ballet folklorico group Estrellas de Esperanza highlighting Watsonville’s large Latino community.
What makes this “No Kings” protest different from the rest, said Millard, is that 2026 is an election year. “This is an important time to raise awareness and make sure people are understanding the role that they can play,” she said.
The Santa Cruz march was drawing to an end as the Watsonville rally began, a similar scheduling to previous protests.
Saturday marked the third “No Kings” gatherings, organized both locally and nationally by national political group Indivisible and its local affiliates.
Following a brief rally at San Lorenzo Park meant to energize the crowd, protesters began to file out onto Soquel Avenue and into the downtown area to the tune of drums and music from a local jazz band. The march crowd is making its way across the Soquel Avenue bridge past Front Street and onto Pacific Avenue, amid the drumming and chants. The number of protesters appeared similar to those who participated in October’s “No Kings” gathering. At that Oct. 18 march, about 15,000 appeared to be out in force.
Protesters began gathering at San Lorenzo Park as early as 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. start, carrying signs opposing the Trump administration’s military actions in Iran and calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Amanda Harris Altice, one of the organizers on behalf of Indivisible Santa Cruz County, told Lookout that there’s more momentum behind these protests because community members are “seeing that what we’re doing is working,” but added that the work needs to continue. Altice was one of two speakers at the park who got the march going.
“We want to have a voice in what’s happening,” said Santa Cruz resident Steven Farrow. “We want the government to know that we’re not pleased with what is going on in our country.”
Farrow told Lookout that he’s not happy with the Trump administration starting a war in Iran without congressional approval. “I’m upset immigration and ICE killing people that are innocent and that have no reason to be assassinated,” he said.
Santa Cruz resident Linda Quale said there’s no ability to be silent anymore. “Silence means agreement. You cannot agree with any of this,” she said. “We can’t be quiet.”
In Capitola, Gayle Ortiz, owner of Gayle’s Bakery & Rosticceria and a former Capitola city councilmember, organized a “stand up” protest along the new Capitola Avenue overpass over Highway 1, simultaneous with the Santa Cruz rally.
Like the two rallies in 2025, Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies were not focused on one particular issue. Instead, they are meant to unite protesters who have various grievances against the Trump administration. Past protests have criticized the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement, voting rights and health care.
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