DON GONYEA, HOST:
Across the country yesterday, people came out to over 3,000 No Kings protests.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) No kings. No kings. No kings.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Keep it going.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) No kings. No kings.
GONYEA: From cities to suburbs, some blue, some red, millions of Americans voiced their discontent with the Trump administration. Reporters from NPR's network of member stations were there to hear what protesters had to say. NPR's Liz Baker brings us some of those voices.
LIZ BAKER, BYLINE: Saturdays was the third No Kings protest, and its organizers boasted that this one would have the most rallies in the most locations. And people showed up in big communities and small with messages against corruption, against the war and against ICE. It's that last one that drove Mark Laywhyee (ph) to protest in Philadelphia.
MARK LAYWHYEE: I come from an immigrant family myself. So to see DHS, and specifically ICE officers, you know, in our airports and in our schools and hospitals and sort of, like, invading every part of our life is very disheartening to myself and, you know, my family and whatnot.
BAKER: In New England, Hannah Abrams (ph) joined hundreds of others on the side of a busy four-lane highway in Vermont. She says she attended the last two No Kings rallies in June and October, but still came with a fresh list of grievances this time around.
HANNAH ABRAMS: It's just cruel conditions for the people who are taken by ICE. It's the cruelty of our economy and how we are paying more, even though we're told that the economy has improved. So there are lots of reasons I'm here, but it boils down to the cruelty.
BAKER: In San Luis Obispo, California, Jessica Rumble (ph) says she had trouble figuring out how to boil down her message for her protest sign.
JESSICA RUMBLE: There's so much. You know, I thought about doing one of those signs that says, like, too much for one sign.
BAKER: Rumble ultimately settled on an anti-war message, one that resonated strongly with her partner, Charles Bridges (ph), who choked up thinking about the Iranian girls' school that was hit by a Tomahawk missile.
CHARLES BRIDGES: It's just really messed up, and I feel like there's no accountability for these things that are happening.
BAKER: Also upset by the war was Katherine Arnold (ph) in Washington, D.C. She showed up at the Lincoln Memorial to decry Trump's apparent indifference when it comes to the lives of American troops.
KATHERINE ARNOLD: I'm so frustrated that he can so flippantly say, you know, some lives will be lost. But he doesn't put anything on the line. You know, he's a draft dodger himself. His kids don't do it, so he's talking about our kids.
BAKER: Trump has not directly commented on Saturday's protests. But in advance of the rallies, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson emailed NPR that, quote, "the only people who care about these Trump derangement therapy sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them."
In the south, Quentin Anderson (ph), a Democratic activist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, disagrees and says these protests are a call to political action.
QUENTIN ANDERSON: It's show up to the protests and express your frustration, and then turn around, register to vote and vote in November.
BAKER: Voting in November - that's what worries Judy Ann Carson in Fort Myers, Florida.
JUDY ANN CARSON: I'm very concerned about the midterms and the voter suppression that he's trying to run through because it's going to be devastating for minorities, women and any kind of Democrat.
BAKER: For now, though, Barb Annes (ph) of Rochester Hills, Michigan, is staying positive. She says she was heartened by the crowds on Saturday.
BARB ANNES: I think Americans are at their best when we come together and we speak with one voice when something is wrong, and we call it out, and we work for change in a positive way.
BAKER: Change - the one thing all the protesters agree on. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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