Maryland sees big turnout at No Kings rallies against Trump and detention center plans

They were political heavy-hitters and grandmothers, candidates and musicians, activists and several hundred regular Joes.

They were angry about a litany of Trump administration policies, but particularly focused on recent immigration raids. There was chanting and costumes and signs. Lots of signs. Hand-drawn and angry, often funny and just as often rude and not suitable for a general audience.

For some, it was their third time attending a No Kings rally since the national movement started last summer, followed by nationwide rallies last fall, to protest President Donald Trump’s actions and that protesters call his disregard for coequal branches of government.

For Andrew Thomas, a 79-year-old veteran who was among the crowds who rallied in Hagerstown, it was his third protest — of the day, after stops in Charlestown and Shepardstown, West Virginia, earlier in the day.

“I hate the way the president acts,” Thomas said, when asked what compelled him to show up. “I just look at him and listen to him and go, ‘Oh my God, how can these people support an imbecile like that?’

Thomas was one of the thousands who showed up at the dozens of No Kings rallies scattered across Maryland, one of millions expected to turn out across the country. A sign reads “No kings, no camps” at the No Kings rally in Hagerstown on Saturday. (Photo by Rhiannon Evans/Maryland Matters)

In Maryland, protesters dealt with unseasonably brisk temperatures but clear skies. Much of the focus was on Hagerstown, just a few miles from the 825,000-square-foot warehouse in Williamsport that Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants to convert into a 1,500-bed immigrant detention center.

Because of that, the theme of “No kings, no camps” was particularly resonant with the thousands who came from all over the state to gather at Hagerstown’s Public Square.

Laura Spibak and Alice Roberts, with the Washington County chapter of Indivisible which organized the Hagerstown event, said that Saturday’s rally was the largest No Kings rally in Washington County by far.

“It seems important to make a big deal of today, of all the days, to kind of show our leadership that lots of people really don’t want that [the detention facility],” Spibak said. “Not just like a couple of people that show up outside the commissioners’ meetings every Tuesday, but like thousands of people.”

Spibak and Roberts estimated that about 2,500 to 3,000 people showed up Saturday — a steep increase from previous rallies. They said the Maryland Coalition to Stop the Camps organized protesters to come to Hagerstown from all over Maryland, specifically because of the ICE detention facility.

Gathered along the intersection of Washington and Potomac streets, people could be heard chanting things like “Love, not hate. That’s what makes America great,” and “This is what democracy looks like,” while cars honked their horns as they drove past.

Roommates Jackie Fairbrother and Celena Lipscomb drove from Germantown to show their support. They were originally planning on going to the No Kings march in Washington, D.C., but changed their minds after seeing a social media post encouraging people to rally against ICE in Hagerstown.

“We don’t want this,” Fairbrother said, “We don’t want this staining our state.”

Lipscomb, who has been to No Kings protests previously, said Saturday’s protest felt different than the rest, and said that there were a lot more organizations present encouraging people to stay involved in local organizing.

“I think it feels like this is kind of a sign of the tide turning,” Lipscomb said. “I think that’s important, to turn this into more regular action.” Maryland Comptroller Brook Lierman speaks at the No Kings rally in Hagerstown Saturday. (Photo by Rhiannon Evans/Maryland Matters)

In addition to local organizers, the rally also saw appearances by Comptroller Brooke Lierman and former U.S. Rep. David Trone — who wanted to speak, but organizers only let elected officials speak, to keep the event from becoming a campaign rally. Trone is seeking reelection to his old 6th District seat.

In her speech, Lierman focused on supporting immigrants in the communit.

“We all do better when we all do better. And in Maryland that includes our immigrant brothers and sisters,” she said. “They work in our hospitals. They build our homes. They discover cures and vaccines. My kids go to school with them. They start businesses on our main street. They are us.”

In addition to a large geographic reach, the Hagerstown rally had a multigenerational reach as well.

Donna Mason, 82, had too many reasons for showing up, but the most notable now was the detention facility. The Hagerstown resident said she hopes to convince neighbors who are on the fence about Trump and his immigration policies to fight against them.

Mason said she runs a nonprofit with about 160 members who meet every week to paint. While some didn’t want to talk politics at first, she said she’s been able to challenge their thought process through continual civil conversations.

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“Now you can tell they’re listening, and they’re even making comments, ‘Well, that isn’t right,’” Mason said. “So I think it influences, right?”

Many said they just hope their actions Saturday lead to results, both in the Trump administration and in the county administration.

“Something has to change,” Thomas said. “And I think it will, with all of these people showing up.”

In Baltimore, city resident Kerry Brady was showing up for her third No Kings event, and joined the hundreds demonstrating outside the George H. Fallon Federal Office Building, where ICE offices are housed.

Brady said she attended several protests in the first year of Trump’s second term, from Washington, D.C., to the Harford County office of Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st), the chair of the House Freedom Caucus. She said she keeps coming back because she finds so many of Trump’s decisions distressing.

“It’s everything. It is the illegal wars, it is flouting laws. It is ignoring the fact that there are three coequal branches of government. The racism, the misogyny, cronyism, the oligarchy,” Brady said.

On Saturday, she was dressed as a colonial era king, with a bejeweled crown, a powdered face and lacy cuffs — and a clown’s nose. “No Clowns, No Crowns,” her sign read.

“Laughing at the problem helps to take away its power,” she said.

Saturday’s demonstrations began with musical performances and remarks at City Hall, before a band of demonstrators wove through city streets toward the Fallon Building, briefly stopping traffic on the way.

ICE was a popular target for Saturday’s speakers, who argued that the Trump administration has trampled on civil rights in its rush to detain undocumented immigrants living in the United States.U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) speaks during Saturday’s No Kings Day rally against President Donald Trump in Baltimore on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Photo by Christine Condon/ Maryland Matters)

“Donald Trump said he was going to go after what he said was the worst of the worst,” said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), speaking to the crowd outside City Hall. “But he’s focused instead on pastors from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He’s locked up kids. He’s locked up small businessmen and women — a nail salon owner in Hagerstown. He has snatched kids and parents taking their kids to school off the streets here in Baltimore.”

State politics on immigration also came into the spotlight. Nehemiah Bester, communications strategist for ACLU Maryland, applauded legislators for ending the 287(g) program, which let law enforcement agencies partner with ICE for immigration detentions.

“That victory belongs to the people of this state. It reflects a shared commitment to dignity,” Bester said.

But informal relationships between local police and ICE continue to send Marylanders into immigration detention, Bester said.

“This quieter pipeline continues to send more people into detention than the formal agreements we just ended,” Bester said.

He urged the legislature to pass the Community Trust Act, which contains prohibitions against state and local officers conducting immigration enforcement. But with two weeks left in the legislative session, the bill has stalled and passage does not seem likely.

U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th) spoke at City Hall, fresh from a House session that ran until nearly midnight Friday. In an interview, he bemoaned House Republicans’ decision to kill a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security that excluded ICE, but would have restored pay to Transportation Security Administration and other DHS workers.

“The president contacts Mike Johnson, the Speaker, and says kill it. And that’s what he did. And unfortunately the Republicans have the numbers. They numerically can win on votes,” Mfume said. “So, what I need people to do is to focus on the fact that we’ve got midterm elections coming up. We’ve got to find a way to flip the House.”

Crowds at the city’s War Memorial Plaza brought handmade signs opposing ICE and Trump’s war in Iran. More than one was dressed as Lady Liberty, and a bicyclist circled the plaza — dressed as Donald Trump in a king’s outfit atop a cyber truck, with a sticker reading “Baby on Board.”

“There’s a line in the sand and we crossed it a long time ago,” said Stephanie Hawkins, a Baltimore County resident.

Her sign bore a hand-drawn image of Trump behind prison bars, with the slogan “I Have A Dream.”

“They’re our representatives — not our saviors. So, it’s really up to us to hit the streets and take our democracy back,” Hawkins said.A large, lively crowd turned out at the public square in deep-red Hagerstown, Maryland, where plans by the Trump administration to turn a nearby warehouse into an immigration detention center have energized advocates and gave special resonance to the slogan, “No kings, no camps.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.