A month ago, the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran. On Saturday, the attacks spearheaded the opposition to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Nearly 4,000 people — almost three times as many as at the second “No Kings” protest in October — held American flags and signs along Broad Street in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the third “No Kings” protest since Trump assumed office in January 2025. Their goal: to oppose him and his administration.
Murfreesboro Indivisible helped organize the Murfreesboro protest, which joined more than 3,100 others across the country, but despite the high attendance, not everyone agreed with the messages being promoted.
Colin Willumson, a press officer with Murfreesboro Indivisible, hoped to reach as many people as possible.
“We overthrew a king 250 years ago, and we hope by resisting this one we’re going to last another 250 years,” Willumson said.
People of all ages attended the protest; kids rested on picnic blankets or protested with their parents, and elders sat on the grass or stood with mobility aids. For some, it was their first protest — but others have been protesting their whole lives.
Alex Hurder, an 80-year-old who held a sign reading “Immigrants R Us,” protested the Vietnam and Afghan wars and attended to oppose the U.S.’s involvement in another foreign conflict.
“This is an utterly unjustifiable war, and it’s going to result in lots of suffering, lots of death, all unnecessary,” Hurder said. “… The American people don’t like it; I don’t like it. Our politicians here in Tennessee are not responding to the way people feel about the war.”
Karl Bernnig, an 80-year-old military veteran, also said the U.S. involvement in the war led him to protest. Berning, who served in the 25th Infantry Division of the Army from 1966 to 1999, said the U.S. government is making “off the cuff” decisions that are only benefiting the administration and “their wealthy people.”
As some cars honked in approval, others drove by and “rolled coal” at the demonstrators. Protesters chanted “Donald Trump has got to go” from the sidewalk, while a group of six people wearing “Make America Great Again” hats ran back and forth, taunting them.
One attendee held a sign that read “No three-term presidents,” but counter-protesters disagreed. Trump served his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021 and is currently in his second, which began in 2025. Although Trump is ineligible to run for a third stint as president under the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, some counter-demonstrators called for another four years.
An 18-year-old counter-protester — the only adult counter-protester in attendance to speak with Sidelines — wished to remain anonymous. Attending Rutherford County Virtual School and dual-enrolled at MTSU, he said that, like all the “No Kings” protesters, he wanted to use his freedom of speech to vocalize his beliefs. While he appreciated protesters for attending, he said that they were using negativity and hate to promote a message of unity, as demonstrators chanted “Love, not hate, makes this country great.”
Many “No Kings” protesters called Trump a pedophile in signs and chants, referencing his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. The counter-protester said he agreed that pedophiles should be held accountable, but that there was no proof that Trump was one.
Some protesters worried the Trump administration would take away their freedoms, including voting and their First Amendment rights.
Doug Gruber, 48, attended the protest with his entire family, bringing his adult children from across Tennessee to Murfreesboro. While he couldn’t pinpoint a single issue that brought him out, he emphasized his fear of having his rights taken away.
“One of the beautiful things about America, which is an equally frustrating thing, is that I have the right to stand out here and protest and say, ‘I don’t like these things,’” Gruber said. “… It’s guaranteed in this country, and historically they have been guaranteed. And our freedoms feel like they’re under attack.”
Gruber began attending protests in 2016 with the #MeToo movement, a movement to hold those who commit and have committed sexual misconduct accountable. He believes that now is the time to stand up and express opinions loudly.
“I’m like most Americans,” Gruber said. “I just babble my opinions to the people in my immediate vicinity, which is normally family. But actually getting out and protesting, it’s never anything I’ve ever been a part of. … But since 2016, the need has felt more urgent.”
One 82-year-old protester, Jerry Brookshire, taught history at MTSU for 35 years before his retirement in 2007 and found himself inspired by the variety of people at the protest.
“One of the reasons I enjoyed being a teacher is that I wanted students to learn about history, but think about the history, and to think about their place,” Brookshire said. “And I think that’s the picture. The future’s going to be in the students’ hands for this country. Students now are going to have a life. … The future’s going to be with them, not us old-timers.”
An accumulation of bad policies and tyrannical actions in the last decade led Byron Knight, an MTSU student majoring in political science, to dissent, citing the war in Iran and the “illegal and inhumane treatment of immigrants.”
“Let’s remain a tyrantless, kingless, authoritarianless nation and truly try to give liberty and justice for all,” Knight said.
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