Modesto’s third No Kings protest focuses on action, part of nationwide rallies
Modesto’s No Kings protest started Saturday morning at Graceada Park with a few hundred people gathered around a stage listening to speakers while others checked out booths to register to vote, sign petitions and donate to local organizations.
Within an hour, that number had ballooned to around 2,000 marching toward Five Points with a near-constant cacophony of supportive honks.
It was part of No Kings protests nationwide against President Donald Trump’s administration and policies.
In the park, some people brought their dogs and their kids and stood in the shade on the warm day. They listened to the two main speakers scheduled for the rally: Moses Abeyta, a 17-year-old Downey High School student and member of Youth Leading Modesto, and Michael Masuda, a Democratic candidate hoping to unseat Tom McClintock in the 5th Congressional District.
Abeyta participated in the last No Kings protest and helped organize large student walkouts last month. “Of course, with the walkouts, there was a very, very big incentive to have a youth speaker up there,” he said.
He has been among the students participating in mutual-aid events and organizing student walkouts.
Masuda, who lives in Stanislaus County and is the frontrunning Democratic candidate for the congressional district long held by McClintock, did not mince words when speaking out against the incumbent.
“For those of you who voiced your displeasure over email or to his office, he responded, ‘If you don’t like the law, change the law,’” Masuda said. “I say ‘F--- that, we’re going to start by changing the lawmaker.’”
Some shouts of agreement were heard in the crowd along with a participant yelling, “si se puede!”
John Greer was walking in the park in an inflatable pig costume with a small 3-D printed vest. His dog Luna was in a press jacket. He said he was dressed as a “fascist pig.”
“It’s been like 10 to 12 years of slow -rolling destruction of our democracy,” Greer said. “I can’t even put into words how upsetting it’s been.”
The crowd skewed older than the past two No Kings protests and was smaller than the previous event, which had around 2,500 participants.
Signs read “Error 404: Democracy not found,” and “Believe your eyes not Trump’s lies.” Many highlighted disapproval for the ongoing war with Iran, voter suppression, ICE and the Epstein files.
Water bottles, stickers and whistles, red cards and orange cards to support the constitutional rights of immigrants were handed out at the booths.
Wendy Byrd, president of the Modesto/Stanislaus NAACP, was helping sign up people to become members of the local chapter and selling T-shirts to support the organization.
“We were a big part of the civil rights movement,” Byrd said. “And 116 years later, we still are.”
Larry Bolton, a member of the Democratic Party’s Central Committee, manned a booth for the Stanislaus County Democratic Party, registering participants to vote.
“This is not what people voted for. They thought Donald Trump was going to make their lives better, make things more affordable. And does that happen? No, he hasn’t done anything,” Bolton said.
Russel Miller, a 15-year-old from Modesto High School, is another member of Youth Leading Modesto, which started about a year ago.
“I started this because Trump is defunding the Department of Education and I’m like ‘Hey, that affects me, I want to do something about it’,” Miller said.
Miller said the group has protested gun violence and has expanded from Modesto High School to another chapter at Downey High School.
The Modesto Police Department was present from the start of the protest. Officers on bikes or foot went around the park enforcing Modesto’s civil code, largely talking to people who were carrying sticks or poles with signs or flags attached.
There did not appear to be any arrests or altercations with law enforcement.
There weren’t any counterprotesters, which has been the case for most of the protests that have sprung up in Modesto following Trump’s second term in office.
A couple of cars drove through Five Points and held signs out of their sunroofs. Just before noon, a vehicle taking a right from McHenry onto Needham street blasted “FDT,” a protest song by rappers YG and the late Nipsey Hustle.
Shelly Stines, 63, has lived in Modesto her entire life. As she stood in the sun in front of the Jack in the Box at Five Points, she said it was the first time she’s been out to these events, as her health prevented her from joining in the past.
“I’m sweating like a pig, I’m wearing my orthopedic flipflops, I’ve got my braces on, but you know what? I showed up.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 3:07 PM.
