WASHINGTON — A couple hundred people carrying decorated umbrellas walked from the former Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House to the U.S. Capitol lawn Saturday for a No Kings get-out-the-vote event in the nation’s capital.

No Kings, a coalition that has drawn millions of Americans to protests three times since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, spread out its fourth effort across several Saturday events in Washington, D.C., in addition to thousands across the nation, to encourage early voting. 

The Umbrella Walk was one of them. No Kings worked with the advocacy group Umbrella Walk 4 Change to hold the street protest. 

Octavia Clapp, a 25-year-old protester from Maryland, said using her right to vote especially matters as Trump attempts to wield authority over voting. The Trump administration has spent more than a year in court battles with dozens of states and voting rights groups seeking to force states to provide sensitive voter data and curb voting by mail.

“I think cracking down on mail-in voting and restricting people’s ability to vote easily is anti-democratic,” she said. “Democracy is really important to me, and freedom is really important to me.”

Linda Levine, a Washington, D.C., resident, said restrictions on abortion rights drew her to the march. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right. 

“I am 83 and I can’t believe that my daughter has less rights now than I had,” she said. “We fought for them and this Supreme Court took them away.”

Her daughter, Ari Hershey, attended with her two young sons to show them how to protest.

It was a record number of participants for the Umbrella Walk 4 Change, according to the walk’s organizer, Peter Stinson.

Stinson said he hopes Saturday’s events will lead to larger, more powerful demonstrations in front of the Capitol and eventually impeachment of the president.

“We need 30,000 people right here, right here, every day for about four to six weeks,” he said. 

Ashley Thoj from Lorton, Virginia, attended with her spouse Aida Thoj. For Ashley, early voting was the walk’s most important message.

“Especially now that we’re in early voting periods, just getting people to get out to the polls,” she said.

Already, more than 8.5 million Americans have voted in the 2026 midterm election, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.

Unlike past No Kings events, only some of Saturday’s actions involved protests. The events across the United States included help with voter registration, walks to ballot drop-off locations and car pool sign-ups.

At the Umbrella Walk, Stinson ended the march with a reminder to participants to vote and help others vote.

“Work within your circle of influence,” he said. “Work within your skill set.”

MADISON – About 1,000 people gathered at 2 p.m. on a sunny Saturday afternoon for a No Kings protest in James Madison park near Lake Monona in downtown Madison. The crowd swelled to about 1,500 as protesters marched to the Capitol in a long line with police stopping traffic at intersections along the way. The Forward Marching Band played “Solidarity Forever” on tubas, horns and drums as marchers carrying signs protesting the Trump administration rounded the square and converged in front of City Hall to listen to speakers who urged everyone to vote early in the 2026 midterm elections.

Gina Idsinga came to the rally from her home in McFarland with a homemade sign that displayed the names of her five grandchildren and the statement: “I need to be able to tell my  grandchildren I did not stay silent.” 

“I feel very strongly about what is going on and we just need to band together and keep community in mind,” she said. “No country is a good country without taking care of its people and this administration is definitely not taking care of its people.”

Beside her, Idsinga’s friend Dee Reid carried a sign that said “No crowns for clowns.” She said she came out to support “all the things that this country has worked hard to keep,” including abortion rights, Social Security and Obamacare. She has been thinking about retiring soon, she said, but the cost of living is making her worry about whether she will be able to stop working. Her kids are also struggling with high costs, she said. “Both have really good careers and can’t buy a house. Interest rates are high, housing is not affordable and things are going in the wrong direction, so we need to focus on what’s good for us and not on starting wars in places we really don’t need to right now.”

Dineen Seymour-Nahn, a retired public school teacher in Madison said, “We have to vote in Crowley and Josh Kaul, and just vote in Democrats up and down the ticket, because really, if we don’t win this, who knows what will happen in 2028? With Tom Tiffany in there, he’ll undo everything we’ve done even in the last two years with some really good Supreme Court races. All that will come back – gerrymandering, anti-abortion laws, so that’s why we’re here.”

Sue Jennik, the president of the  League of Women Voters of Dane County stood behind a table in front of City Hall with information on the candidates running in Wisconsin in 2026, the proposed constitutional amendments voters will see on on their ballots and instructions on how to register, vote early and use a ballot drop box: “Everything people need to know to protect their right to vote,” she said.

“Don’t trust an email that tells you you’re registered to vote if you just moved to Wisconsin,” said Melissa Markquart, a singer in the protest group the Raging Grannies. “We have grannies out registering people to vote, and they’ve had people tell them they got emails that said they were already registered – but there’s no automatic registration in Wisconsin,” she added.

Ajak Johnson, one of the march organizers, ran back and forth along the line directing marchers throughout. “These national events keep happening and we keep organizing things here on the ground,” she said. “I think it’s important for people to come together.” 

Early voting starts in Wisconsin on Oct 20, she added, “and I would just hope that people would leave here with a plan to early vote.”

Hosted by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the ministerial comes at a time when President Donald Trump's tariffs, a trade war with Canada and high fuel prices sparked by the war in Iran have left Americans uneasy about the economy.

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Madison police arrested at least seven people early Tuesday morning as officials moved to clear out the encampment at the site of a July 22 police shooting. An additional 10 people have been cited, according to a Madison police spokesperson.

The post Madison police clear encampment at shooting site, arrest 16 appeared first on WPR.