Nearly 2,000 March Through Key West in 'No Kings' Protest

The Truman Avenue corridor hadn't seen a Saturday crowd like it in years. Nearly 2,000 people spread across the sidewalks along Bayview Park on March 28, turning a two-hour stretch of the island's civic spine into one of the largest political demonstrations Key West has hosted in recent memory.

The rally ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and served as Key West's chapter of the national "No Kings" day of action, the third such coordinated mobilization against President Donald Trump and his administration. Organizers linked the event to the Indivisible and Mobilize networks, which tallied more than 3,100 rallies across the country that Saturday. No Kings organizers reported 8 million participants nationally, calling it the largest single-day nonviolent protest in U.S. history.

Key West police maintained a visible presence throughout, with officers stationed along Truman Avenue and others moving on foot through the crowd. Protesters occupied sidewalks and public spaces while traffic continued moving along the corridor without reported disruption or incident.

Darlene Thomas, a local activist with the Key West chapter of the National Organization for Women, was among the speakers who addressed the crowd assembled at Bayview Park. Marchers carried signs targeting ICE enforcement, defending immigrants, invoking the U.S. Constitution and condemning what participants described as authoritarian governance. One sign turned Trump's own words against him, displaying an altered image of the president beside the phrase "Quiet, Piggy," a reference to his outburst aboard Air Force One when a reporter pressed him on the Epstein files.

The turnout put March 28 in a distinct category from earlier demonstrations at the same location this year. An "ICE Out for Good" event at Bayview Park on January 11, organized in response to the shooting of Minneapolis mother Renee Good by an ICE agent, drew nearly 300 people; the No Kings crowd was roughly seven times that size.

The event generated some local friction. Anonymous commentary in the Keys Citizen's Citizens Voice column included at least one reader who alleged the crowd had been bussed in from outside the Keys. Organizers characterized all participants as unpaid and described the turnout as a genuine mix of island residents and visitors.

With the 2026 election cycle accelerating across Florida, organizers indicated plans to follow the march with voter-registration drives and letter-writing campaigns, signaling that March 28 was a starting point rather than a standalone moment.