Trump critics relish ‘No Kings’ protest at Auburn courthouse in county Trump won
Frustration and anger with President Donald Trump drove hundreds of Placer County residents to attend a “No Kings” protest outside the courthouse in Auburn Saturday.
But they found other emotions, several demonstrators said as they lined the sidewalks near the corner of Maple Street and Lincoln Way: communal joy and surprised satisfaction with the opposition to Trump at the heart of a county he carried in last year’s election.
“It makes me so happy. People stepping up and saying something is huge,” Mary Beggs, 73, a retired receptionist and Auburn native, said. “It makes me proud of the community.”
Beggs said she considers Trump’s actions in office, including his immigration crackdown and his pardons, to be “heartbreaking.”
As protesters held anti-Trump signs and American flags, cars drove through town, many honking in support and drawing cheers. The protest came hours after a rally outside the state Capitol in downtown Sacramento, on a day when more than 1,800 protests were taking place under the slogan “No Kings.”
At one point in Auburn, a group of the demonstrators sang “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Misérables,” modified to refer to resisting “the destruction of Rubio, Trump and Vance” — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Trump, and Vice President JD Vance.
Pat Ferguson, who helped organize the event with the local group Indivisible Auburn, said about 500 people had registered in advance but she suspected a greater number attended. She said the nationwide “No Kings” protests on Flag Day — also coinciding with Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C. — allowed the president’s critics to emphasize their patriotism.
“The MAGA people try to portray themselves as the only lovers of the flag, the only patriots. And that’s not true,” she said. “We love the flag. We are patriots.”
The crowd spanned different generations but skewed toward older ones. Ferguson, 79, a retired educator, said older people have “been around enough to realize that things are not the way they should be and not the way they used to be.”
Late Friday, Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo had posted a message on social media affirming protesters’ First Amendment rights and warning that the sheriff’s office would not tolerate violence or “acts that threaten public safety or property.”
There appeared to be no violence or tensions during the event. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sara Perkovic, 57, who lives in Auburn and works at a software company, stood along Lincoln Way holding a sign saying, “Our lives begin to end when we become silent about what matters” — a message she said she adapted from a quote by Martin Luther King Jr.
She attended the protest with her 18-year-old daughter, Lea Sribar, who recently completed her freshman year at UCLA.
“I’m really surprised and my heart is warmed by how many people are here,” Sribar said, “because sometimes I think — living in a conservative town, I don’t think there’s that kind of people who share the same values.”
