Editor's note: The rallies in Southwest Florida are scheduled throughout the day with many held mid-morning through early afternoon. Check with WGCU.org for more information and photos and voices as they come in from our reporters.
It was a show of protest, frustration, disaffection and concern and it was shared by thousands Saturday in various Southwest Florida sites, other parts of the state and across the United States and the world.
The No Kings III event was billed as a protest rally and drew people of many different political affiliations who said they had concerns with how the current administration in Washington run by President Donald Trump was handling things.
The Associated Press reported that organizers of the “No Kings” demonstrations across the country predicted the rallies against President Donald Trump could add up to one of the largest protests in U.S. history. Organizers say more than 3,100 events have been registered in all 50 states and several other countries, with more than 9 million people expected.
An unofficial count made by the League of Women Voters in Lee County pegged the crowd in Fort Myers at 6,500. They put sticky, colored paper dots on people attending to protest and said they handed out 5,800. The extra number listed was due to areas in the protest that the League didn't get to.
Fort Myers/Lee County
Bob and Betsy Westfall from Cape Coral have attended all the No Kings events so far out of worry for the country.
"I'm out here because I don't like seeing things going the direction they're going in our country. I think that, uh... if the... if the country allows Trump, he will take us into an authoritarian type situation, and I don't like that. That's not the country I live in," Bon Westfall said.
Betsy Westfall said didn't know if the rally would have any outcome on the president: "I think the more that we are united as the opposition, the better off we're gonna be going forward. So I'm excited that the protest is gonna be even larger than the last three that we've been to."
His wife, Betsy, said the protest really was a political thing.
"It's a citizen thing," she said. "It's Independents, Republicans, and Democrats. It's people that love our country and don't want it to change in a fundamental way."
Early on the side of U.S. 41 was Dan Ribarovic of North Fort Myers. He wanted to show his support for the event effort.
"We're not happy with our current administration," he said. "And want people to stand up and speak their displeasure with what's happening right now."
Ribarovic added that he hopes the rallies just maybe brings some awareness to the people that didn't vote in the last election.
"I think that's part of the reason why we're in this situation, because many people that can vote don't vote, and to get to have a proper democracy, we need everyone's vote," he said. "So hopefully people, seeing folks like us out here, realize the only way things can change is if you have your voice heard."
Lindsay Wray was dressed as a sunflower and blowing bubbles but had a serious concern.
"People aren't going to the doctor because they can't afford health care. So it resonates with me. I pay out of pocket, and it's costing a hell of a lot more now than it was two years ago, three years ago," she said. "This is not how Americans should be living. So I'm standing up. It's what we have to do."
Though it was billed as an apolitical event, politics did get involved. Florida Democrat Gubernatorial candidate David Jolly was at several locations, including the Fort Myers rally. He did extend a hand to those of opposing parties.
"Look, changes here. Voters are standing up, they're speaking out. We seeing it in the special elections. We're seeing that rallies like No Kings. We're seeing it across the country," Jolly said. "And I think for a long time, people have thought Florida isn't going to change, but I think what we've seen in our special elections recently, what we're seeing on the street, there's something interesting happening."
Jolly said it weas important for people to understand that in the case of elections, you don't have to be a Democrat to vote for a Democrat.
"We saw it in the Palm Beach Special Election, and the Tampa Special Election, more Republican voters turned out, but Democrats won, where safe has gone too far. And people are speaking out," the former Republican U.S. representative said.
North Fort Myers
In North Fort Myers about 300 people were demonstrating at a site at the boundary with northeast Cape Coral — Del Prado and U.S. 41.
They chanted "this is what democracy looks like" as vehicles passed by at the busy intersection.
The waved signs saying: "NO kings...Stop ICE," referring to immigration and customs enforcement.
Some drivers honked their horns and gave 'thumbs up' to the protestors. Some made obscene gestures.
There was one incident at the end of the protest, as people were returning to their vehicles in a parking lot. One of the flags at the protest had an expletive and a reference to the president. A man pulled into the parking lot, got out of his vehicle, and confronted organizers. He screamed obscenities at the people and came face to face with one demonstrator, a woman. Words were exchanged and then the man walked back to his vehicle and left, shouting at the demonstrators as he did so.
Debbie Silvan, a North Fort Myers resident, said the turnout was great and it renewed her hope that things can be better.
North Fort Myers resident Judy Ann Carson was protesting at the intersection of U.S. 41 and Del Pardo Boulevard and said she focuses on what she believes are voter suppression efforts by Republicans.
"I'm really concerned about our democracy and our voter then the voter suppression that he's trying to run through, because it's going to be devastating for minorities, women, and any kind of Democrat you," she said.
But Carson says she's not a Democrat herself.
"I'm very concerned about the midterms and but I'm not proactive with the Democratic Club because I'm more of an independent, and I'm kind of really disappointed in them," she said.
Cape Coral
At the protest site in Cape Coral, resident Margaret Kelley offered why she was in attendance: "We all have to get up and do something. It's really important. It's critical. We have to stick together," she said.
Kelley added the current state of discourse is not good: "Just all the unconstitutionality of everything you know, the vitriol, the hate, the you know, killing our citizens, all of it, the war. It just is just insane and it just has to end."
Also in Cape Coral, resident Bob Burgess said he wanted to provide a voice for the opposition to what's going on in the United States and the world these days.
"We need to create awareness, we need to limit the power of the executive branch. They've taken over all three branches of government. They have instituted an illegal war. They are supporting illegal activities in our immigration services," he said. "We're killing our own citizens. We are disregarding human rights in the United States, and we're creating an oligarchy, if you will, eliminating the power designed into the Constitution by the founding fathers."
Pine Island/Matlacha
More than 50 people stood on the only bridge to get to Pine Island in the spring heat, to make a point.
Last year, 77-year-old Carol Nelson stayed home. This year, she came prepared - - hat, sunglasses, and a new toy.
“I have a walker now that has a seat, and I can bring stuff with me. With the cane, it was very awkward.”
She says what’s happening in politics feels very personal.
“So that’s another thing,” she said. “I have grandchildren - - one is already in the Army, one plans to join the Merchant Marine, and another is coming up. I don’t want them in another war.”
Naples/Collier County
The largest crowd yet gathered in Naples for the No Kings III protest in front of the Collier County Courthouse.
The crowd reached from the front of the courthouse to nearly the edge of the grass near the parking lot. People carried vivid signs expressing their displeasure with the Trump administration. More than any other No Kings demonstration, people seemed really fed up today.
Much of the crowd here were older people, and some were in Naples just for the winter. Ann Cross from Bettendorf, Iowa, attended the protest with her sister. She said about Trump, “He has not fulfilled one promise that he said he would do for the US.”
Ida Margolis and her husband Jim, of Naples, were most concerned about voting rights.
“I really care about voting, I think everybody deserves the right to vote in every election,” Ida said. She held up the cane she uses to help her walk. “We shouldn’t make it more difficult for people, including me, and people who can’t stand in line, and can’t always get to the polls, and are very honest and care about every election. We want our voices to be heard.“
Speakers from Naples Pride and Vote Common Good talked to the large crowd. At various points, the crowd chanted “ICE out now.”
Jim Ewing, visiting from Lanark, Illinois, said that it wasn’t any particular thing Trump did that angered him, but the aggregate of all of it. “He keeps putting another nail in the coffin that I think he should be ...put in,” said Ewing with a laugh.
The crowd remained peaceful as it walked over to U.S. 41 and lined up there, waving signs and eliciting honks, cheers, and some middle fingers, from passersby.
Not everyone who turned out for the No Kings III protest rally in Collier County was a seasoned protester or even had come to a protest event previously.
Anne Cross of Naples was one such participant. She says her sister encouraged her to come along.
“I have never. I said, Yeah, I want to do that.”
Cross says she was surprised by the involvement in Iran and Venezuela and Trump's broken campaign promises were infuriating to her.
"He has not fulfilled one promise that he said he would do for the US . I can't think of anything that he's done yet. ”
Cross said she doubted the protest would make any difference in those areas.
Port Charlotte/Charlotte County
About 1,000 people crowded into 110 blocks of Tamiami Trail at Murdock Circle in Port Charlotte, where the largely senior crowd began leaving soon after the event started under the midday sun.
A handful of protesters stood across the street in front of a Burger King with a megaphone chiding the rallygoers.
" Maybe next time you guys can invest in some speakers. I can't hear the hate. I want to hear the hate." a male counter-protester said, amid a half dozen flags planted in the ground with Trump's name on them.
Jeanine Vonville was one of at least a dozen people dressed up as Lady Liberty. She was most concerned about her belief that the Trump family was enriching itself while Donald Trump was president and the war against Iran.
"I've got grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I don't want them going to a war. I don't mind them going in the service, but I don't want them in a war. That's not a necessity," she said.
Some rally members wouldn't talk to reporters until they were convinced the interviewer was actually employed by a media organization due to Trump supporters dressing as journalists on assignment.
Greg Metge , co-chair of the Charlotte County Democratic Executive Committee, said it happened to him twice on Saturday.
"There are people here that put on Kevlar vests with media on them and they have microphones and cameras — mostly black clad — and they will ask you a question and instead of recording that question or asking a follow-up question they will begin to debate you. They're not even fake media. They're no media."
Englewood/Charlotte, Sarasota County
At the Englewood rally, Larry Hollis of Port Charlotte said he was fed up.
"I think enough is enough. I mean, we've seen this whole since the beginning of this administration. It's way worse than it was the first time the party that claims they want small government, they have it — a government of one. And the no kings thing, that's basically a statement against a government of one. We have a well understood constitutional republic in which there are supposed to be checks and balances. There are no more checks. There are no more balances. It's a one party rule, and this is how authoritarian governments got started all over the world, so we're doing the best we can to speak out against that."
And Cliff McEwen from Venice said he was protesting to help put an end to the current situation, which he termed as "madness."
"Simple as that, got to stop and got to stop soon, because we can't have this again," he said. "Abraham Lincoln taught us it's a sin to remain silent when it's your duty to protest. I took an oath. It didn't have an expiration date. I protest."
Sarasota/Sarasota County
Meggan Lutes was at a protest site in Sarasota and decked out in all red. The Alabama native has been a local resident for some 40 years and said she was fighting for democracy and the Constitution.
"I am fighting for our right to vote, and I'm against so many policies that Trump and his administration are enforcing, ICE, that's a really big one there. Trying to get away with mail-in voting. That's not democracy."
She said the vindictive behavior and litigiousness, on the behalf of the President, to sue and go after everyone who's ever looked at him sideways is such a waste of taxpayers' money.
"This war is a waste of taxpayers' money," she said. "We are suffering, and all of this money is going to things that are not significant."
Lutes said she was a Republic be philosophy and wanted to remain a Republican so she could vote against what the party was doing.
"I don't agree with what is happening. I don't think that the Republican Party, the conservative Republicans, want any of this," she said. "And I believe that it's the Maga movement and the whole Stephen Miller and the project 2025 that is, you know, messing things up, not to mention the connection with Russia."
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