GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Several hundred demonstrators filled Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids late Saturday morning, Oct. 17, for a No Kings rally centered on getting people to vote in the midterm election about two weeks away. The crowd then marched through downtown streets.
Earlier in the day, smaller groups staffed voter tables at street corners, libraries and farmers markets around Heritage Hill, Alger Heights and nearby Rockford. Volunteers handed out nonpartisan guides on registering, locating a polling place and deciding between mail and in-person ballots.
Signs in the crowd protested immigration detention, government corruption, the U.S. conflict with Iran and the fighting in Gaza and Ukraine. Some speakers urged activism beyond Election Day. Concerns about the economy also drew some attendees.
Grand Rapids police officers in vehicles blocked streets for the march, and a bicycle unit rode along and asked marchers to keep to the sidewalks.
Hosts included Unite and Resist GR, with Kent County Indivisible, Urban Core Collective and Committee to Protect Health Care also taking part. The Grand Rapids gathering was one of a nationwide round of No Kings rallies held the same day.
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Filed under: Grand Rapids MI Politics News
