CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Several thousand demonstrators took to the streets near downtown Cedar Rapids as part of nationwide “No Kings” rallies against the Trump administration.
Braving a brisk wind and temperatures that started near freezing, protestors held signs for more than an hour Saturday, March 28, 2026, along Eighth Avenue SE before marching to NewBo City Market on Third Street SE.
Daisy Williams holds a sign outside of NewBo City Market as part of the “No Kings” demonstration in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Massive crowds gathered across the country to demonstrate against Trump’s war in Iran, skyrocketing gas prices, killings and apprehensions by ICE agents and more.
The gathering in Cedar Rapids remained peaceful, even as some agitators drove by try to incite the crowd, while others honked in support of the protestors.
Saturday’s event, organized by Indivisible Iowa Linn County Metro, was the third “No Kings” event since Trump returned to office in 2025.
See photos from a previous “No Kings” rally in Cedar Rapids
Cornell College student Nick Alderman uses a megaphone during the “No Kings” protest on March 28, 2026, in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The Rev. Jonathan Heifner, lead pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, spoke on the outdoor stage at NewBo City Market to a crowd of more than 1,000 people, encouraging them to vote and otherwise engage in their democracy.
Heifner noted that he and dozens of other clergy had asked to meet with U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson to no avail after the Republican congresswoman criticized the advocacy organization Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, following a meeting to educate residents about their legal rights in facing ICE actions.
See photos from the ICE legal observer training in Cedar Rapids
The Rev. Jonathan Heifner, lead pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, addresses the crowd outside of NewBo City Market on March 28, 2026. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
“Across Christian traditions and many faith communities, we affirm the sacred worth of every person and the moral obligation to protect families and welcome the stranger,” the clergy’s letter to Hinson read, in part.
Advocates will be delivering a petition with more than 3,000 signatures to Hinson’s office in the downtown federal building in Cedar Rapids at noon, Wednesday, April 1. Heifner said the petition asks Hinson to meet with clergy to demand accountability for threatening faith-based organizations and to stop funding ICE.
“I don’t think there are many options before us at this moment,” he told the crowd. “We either sit by… or turn the tides with an ever increasingly powerful ‘we the people.'”
A candlelight vigil will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, March 29, 2026, on Mays Island on the Second Avenue Bridge to honor those killed by ICE agents.
More: See photos from a silent vigil in Cedar Rapids to protest ICE and more from “No Kings” below:
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