Jamestown Justice Coordinator Justin Hubbard addresses crowd at No Kings Rally in Jamestown (October 18, 2025)
Around 500 people attended the “No Kings” Rally in Jamestown that was part of more than 2,700 rallies held across the United States on October 18.
Saturday’s rally was organized by the Jamestown Justice Coalition and held in Dow Park. Speakers included JJC Coordinator Justin Hubbard, an opening prayer by Sydney Smith, and St. Bonaventure theology professor Aaron Gies who is planning to run on the Democratic ticket against Republican Congressman Nick Langworthy.
Gies countered the rhetoric by GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson that the rallies across the country were about hating America, saying he loves his “beautiful, imperfect country”, “First of all, I love our freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Freedom of speech is why we can do this. It helps us uplift the voices of ordinary people. It’s what allows us to innovate. It is what allows us to solve our problems in the open, and most importantly, it is what allows us to hold powerful people accountable.”
Gies also cited his love for the freedom of, and from, religion as well as local government as other reasons why he loves the United States.
Hubbard shared that the purpose of the rally was to defend democratic principles, “We’re here to express all of our rights because we have those rights, because we are humans and because we are breathing on this land, they are protected by our government. They are not given to us by our government. Everyone has them. That’s why we call them natural rights. And no one, no president, no monarch, no king, no dictator, no authoritarian, no congressman, no one has the right to take away your freedoms. That’s why we’re here.”
All speakers cited issues with President Trump’s agenda of sending the national guard to U.S. cities, withholding funds from states that voted Democrat in the prior presidential election, and the raids by Immigration agents that has resulted in the arrest of American citizens based on the color of their skin.
There were less than a handful of counter-protesters at the rally, including Greg Carr who said he’s been a supporter of Donald Trump since 2016. Carr said while he was told he had to move a few times from where he was standing, which he didn’t feel was right, he said it’s the people’s right to speak and that he’ll listen, “When I interview people, I listen to what they have to say. I’m not one sided. Somebody might tell me something, and I’d say, oh, okay, I get it right. And I have put a lot of common sense in a lot of folks here too today, and I commend them for listening to me. You know what I mean, civilly, and that’s the way it should be. Nobody should be here arguing with each other, pushing shoving, which I never do. Justin (Hubbard) knows who I am. He knows I’m always peaceful. I’m always respectful.”
This was the third rally hosted by the Jamestown Justice Coalition this year since President Trump took office. Organizers of the No Kings rallies across the U.S. estimate there were about 7 million people who participated, making it the largest protest against a sitting president.
My husband and I went to the rally. Everyone was so passionate and joyful! It was really inspiring. We all moved our rally away from the church out of respect for a wedding ceremony. There were a couple obnoxious Trump supporters there who were trying to antagonize protesters but were largely ignored. Anyone who tells you it was anything but positive is not telling the truth.