Stafford’s First No Kings Rally

A group of citizen at the No Kings Protest at the commuter lot on River Road. (Photo Credit: Carol Parker.)

National statistics estimate that about 8 million people turned out to about 3,300 No Kings protests across the country on March 28, 2026 — and for the first time, one of those rallies was in Stafford. The people who planned the rally never expected a big turnout, but still thought the effort was worth it.

“We planned for 10 but thought if 100 showed up we wanted to be prepared,” Carol Parker, told me. “We had 35 patriots who came and expressed their constitutional rights."

Having a hometown protest seemed to have added benefits. "On a personal note I met some wonderful people who are concerned about the direction our country is going,” said Parker.

A group of Staffordites gathers for a No Kings protest. (Photo Credit: Carol Parker.)

The event, originally planned for the sidewalk in front of Town Hall, moved to the commuter lot after questions about parking arose, according to Parker. Though some social media reports suggest a handful of protesters may have still showed up to Town Hall on Saturday. According to the “No Kings” website, these protests, “peacefully mobilized millions of people to take to the streets and declare with one voice — America has No Kings.”

Parker said discussions about bringing the protest to town have been in the works for months. “We all have been to other events in the past — Hartford, Tolland, Enfield, and Williamatic — so we decided to hold our own event… With the cost of fuel I believe it was a help.”

For Leonard Clark, who also attended the protest, the need for a local event was more urgent. Clark told Stafford Free Press, “These are not normal times, and we have a regime (not a real presidency) in Washington that continues to step on the rights of citizens and is attempting to restrict voting in order to eke out a win for the fascist right in the mid-term elections. And yes, I'm using the term Fascist because that's who the regime is. I've studied Fascism for 64 years and what we are experiencing right now resembles 1930s Germany. People need to understand the danger we as a country face right now and I don't think that enough do.”

The protestors plan to have another event this summer as the national No Kings protests continue, and they expect to see their crowd grow.