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'People are very disturbed by what’s going on,' 'No Kings' organizer says

A huge crowd gathered at the Historic Courthouse Saturday for the third 'No Kings' rally protesting policies and actions of the Trump administration. [PHOTO BY RICHARD LABUNSKI]

By Bill Moss, Published: March 29, 2026

Thousands of demonstrators gathered at the Historic Courthouse plaza in downtown Hendersonville on Saturday as part of the nationwide and global  “No Kings” rallies against the Trump administration policies on immigration enforcement, federal budget cuts and environmental protection, plus the war in Iran.

Indivisible Henderson County and Persist of Henderson County in partnership with Hendersonville Pride, the Henderson County NAACP and Progressive Alliance of Henderson County organized “No Kings 3.0” in partnership with Indivisible Project.

Local organizers said the turnout was the largest of the three rallies against Trump.

“We had a drone up there,” said Suzanne Hall, a retired orthopedic surgeon and a member of Indivisible Henderson County. “We used ChatGPT in the area occupied by the crowd and their estimate was 6,000.”

The rally featured music, speeches and many hand-lettered signs.

“The crowd really connected with the speakers,” Hall said. “People are very disturbed by what’s going on with respect for our country, respect for the rule of law and the inhumanity of the treatment of immigrants, and truly expressed those feelings to our government, which is supposed to reflect the will of the people. This is our government, this is not the government’s government.”

“We want a country that serves its people — where working people can afford food and gas and homes and education and healthcare,” Hall said as she introduced the lineup of speakers on Saturday. “We want all who live here to be equal under the law, treated with respect and encouraged to achieve and give back to their communities.”

Nationally, No Kings organizers said eight million people took part in one of the largest protests in recent history, the New York Times reported. Organizers said more than 3,100 events were registered, in all 50 states — 500 more than in October.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dismissed the protests as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support. The “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” she said in a statement.

“They talk about protests being paid,” Dr. Hall countered. “The passion, all the little signs individuals made in get-togethers all over the country and people putting their blood, sweat and tears into this, and they say that we’re paid protesters.”