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Yes, There Was Violence at No Kings Protests—From the Other Side

3 25
20.10.2025

As an estimated seven million people across 2,700 municipalities peacefully demonstrated against the Trump administration at No Kings events Saturday, reports of violence have thus far been scant—except for some instances in which apparent MAGA agitators targeted the pro-democracy protesters.

One notable incident came out of Jackson Township, Ohio, where a No Kings participant’s leg was injured in a hit-and-run. Witnesses told local outlets that a man driving a white pickup truck deliberately veered onto grass where protesters were seated, hitting a 53-year-old woman, before speeding off.

“It was definitely on purpose,” said one witness in The Canton Repository. “He went up on the curb. She took a direct hit. It could have been a lot worse. She put her fist in the air and said ‘I’m all right,’ but I think she might have broken her leg.”

“He drove up the curb trying to scare us, and we all jumped back,” another witness told an independent local reporter. “Unfortunately, a woman standing close to me was hit.”

The protest continued, and local authorities are reportedly investigating the incident.

In Kent, Ohio—a 40-minute drive from Jackson Township—an alleged Trump supporter was arrested by local police after reportedly shoving a woman.

The man was initially seized by a local city councilman, Jeff Clapper, and a group of other No Kings protesters who had witnessed the incident and heard the man was in possession of a firearm.

On social media, a Kent resident, who captured a photo of the man being held down, called him “a belligerent Trump agitator.” Clapper told the Akron Beacon Journal that he heard the individual was a Trump supporter but emphasized that politics had “no bearing” on his actions, which were simply a reaction to seeing somebody “push a woman.”

At a No Kings event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a man in a Jeep adorned with Trump flags reportedly brandished a firearm at protesters. He was subsequently taken into custody by local police.*

So, while Republican lawmakers spent the days leading up to No Kings fearmongering about the protesters themselves, early reports show that MAGA troublemakers were responsible for rare instances of violence on the mass day of protest.

* This story originally misstated the state Wilkes-Barre is located in.

Speaker Mike Johnson justified President Trump’s disgusting AI video of him dumping feces on No Kings protesters by falsely claiming that the protesters were calling for political murder.

“Speaker Johnson, you say that the Democrats had a ‘Hate America’ rally, but what does it say that the president of the United States over the weekend released a video of him pooping on the American people?” The Independent’s Eric Garcia asked Johnson at his Monday press conference.

Johnson chuckled. “The president uses social media to make a point. You can argue he’s probably the most effective person who’s ever used social media for that. He is using satire to make a point,” Johnson replied. “He is not calling for the murder of his political opponents, and that’s what these people are doing.”

Reporter: Speaker Johnson, you say that Democrats had a hate America rally, but what does it say that the president of released video of him pooping on the American people?

Johnson: The president uses social media to make a point. You can argue he's probably the most effective… pic.twitter.com/3BuyfEGIiZ

What the GOP claims was a “Hate America” rally was incredibly peaceful, as attendees and organizers alike made a point to denounce political violence of any kind. In the days leading up to the event, Johnson accused the event of being a haven for “pro-Hamas supporters,” “antifa types,” and “Marxists,” while House Majority Whip Tom Emmer went one step further and called it an event for the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party. And if Johnson’s comments on Monday are any proof, Republicans are still staunchly committed to pushing those lies.

“The politics, the spectacle, is what the mobs, the crowds, the rallies this week were all about,” Johnson continued. “The irony was very glaring. They called it the ‘No Kings’ rally. But the great irony of course … if President Trump was a king, the government would be open. If President Trump was a king, he would’ve closed the nationals parks and the National Mall so they couldn’t have had the rally out here.”

What exactly does Johnson think millions of people across America were doing on Saturday? That they were all paid by George Soros to be there? That they’re all just crazed Marxists who don’t know how good they have it under Trump? This is yet another example of Republicans trying to convince their voters, themselves, and anyone who listens that everything is fine, and that Trump isn’t wildly overreaching in his executive power as he continues to send the military into American cities while siccing his secret police on anyone he doesn’t like. But in Johnson’s eyes, it’s the people that are crazy, not him.

President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to suspend all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for roughly 42 million Americans amid the ongoing government shutdown—and he may not bring them back.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent a letter to states warning that a lapse in appropriations had resulted in “insufficient funds” to pay SNAP benefits through November. Over the weekend, states began to issue warnings to their most vulnerable residents that benefits would be suspended even sooner, Axios reported Monday.

In West Virginia, the Department of Human Services released a statement saying that the USDA had directed it to “delay the issuance of October 2025 SNAP benefits approved on or after........

© New Republic