ASTORIA, Ore. — Hundreds of people turned out for No Kings protests on Oregon’s North Coast, joining massive nationwide protests against the Trump administration and its policies on Saturday.
In Astoria, an estimated 1,600 to 1,800 participants gathered along city blocks from 15th Street to 23rd Street, with clumps of protesters also near Safeway, on the eastern side of the city.
Many participants spoke about their disagreements with the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement and the threats they saw to the usual functions of the legislative and executive branches of government.
A number of participants dressed in elaborate costumes — one person in an inflatable raccoon costume helped lead call-and-response chants during a rally at the Astoria Armory ahead of the protest. Organizers with Indivisible North Coast Oregon passed out repurposed paper Burger King crowns at the rally. One woman modified a “no parking” sign to read “ no king.”
Among the participants was state Rep. Cyrus Javadi, a former Tillamook Republican who recently switched to the Democratic Party. He will run for re-election for the District 32 seat in 2026 and faces at least one Republican challenger so far.
Javadi was a featured speaker at the rally at the Astoria Armory. It was his first major public event since he changed parties.
In his speech, Javadi did not refer to President Donald Trump by name, but instead referenced America’s history.
He told an audience of more than 600 that every generation must decide whether they believe that freedom belongs to everyone: “not just the loudest, the richest or the most powerful among us.”
He condemned Trump’s recent efforts to deploy the National Guard to Portland, echoing fellow Democrats and saying troops are not needed in the city amid ongoing protests outside of an ICE facility there. The protests have drawn national intention.
In his speech, Javadi said liberty is not lost in revolution but through “resignation. When people grow tired, when people stop showing up, when they decide it’s easier to be ruled than to be responsible.”
“So we drift,” he added. “We drift towards power without accountability, towards leaders who promised they alone can fix it, towards systems that serve themselves instead of the people that they were designed to protect.”
The majority of the audience applauded enthusiastically throughout Javadi’s speech, but at the end, as the applause quieted, one man shouted from the back: “We love Andy Davis!” A reference to Javadi’s challenger from the 2024 election when Javadi was a Republican. Davis, a Democrat, sits on the Astoria City Council.
Javadi told KMUN he hadn’t been sure what to expect, but that he was humbled by the generally positive reception.
“When I switched parties, I didn’t imagine it would be so well-received,” he said. “I did it because it was the right thing to do and to see the people accept that has been more than I could have hoped for.”
Javadi stopped at the No Kings protest in Seaside on his way up to Astoria and planned to attend other protests on his way back down the coast.
For Judi Lampi, who attended with a group from Astoria’s Peace First Lutheran Church, the rally and protest were in line with the values of her church, including standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and the immigrant community.
“Peace First Lutheran Church is here today, number one, to support the community in what’s good and right,” she said. “There’s so much happening in today’s world that is unkind and wrong so we wanted to be here for what’s right.”
Indivisible North Coast Oregon told KMUN that, minus a few comments shouted from the windows of passing cars — one woman shouted, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” — they did not encounter any counter protesters.
Members of Indivisible North Coast Oregon have held regular small demonstrations on Marine Drive throughout the summer and have not experienced much, if any, pushback.
However, with ongoing tensions in Portland, the group confirmed it was difficult to land insurance for Saturday’s indoor rally, something other activist groups have experienced this year as well. Indivisible North Coast Oregon also developed a security plan for Saturday’s rally and protest. Ahead of the event, they urged participants to proceed peacefully and to not engage with any counter protesters.
Susan Woolliscroft, lead coordinator for the group’s safety team acknowledged, “It’s a tense time. But we all want to just do our part to be able to be confident to be prepared and not be afraid.”
Woolliscroft said they emphasized that counter protesters have as much right to be out there, too, but that No Kings participants should keep their distance and disengage as much as possible, especially if an interaction was confrontational.
Woolliscroft said the situation in Portland “definitely strengthened our resolve to be here and I actually think it brought more people in.”
In Seaside, a No Kings protest drew more than 600 people. In Cannon Beach, organizers estimate that around 300 people participated in a protest there.