Caroline Grier stood on the corner of Sixth and Jefferson streets holding a hand-painted sign, her bleached buzz cut boasting a similar slogan in bright blue dye — “The U.S. Has No Kings.”
The aim of her message: President Donald Trump.
Grier was one of over 200 people who protested the Trump administration in Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville on Thursday as part of a nationwide May Day demonstration. Grier said she’s attended several similar protests since January, alongside her mother and younger sister.
Caroline Grier holds up a poster on Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville as part of nationwide May Day protests.
“We’ve been going for as many as we can make it to,” Grier said. “There are just so many rights to be fighting for right now.”
Throughout Jefferson Square Park, protestors waved signs calling to protect Medicaid and social security, supporting transgender rights and accusing the Trump administration of authoritarianism and fascism. Local activists and attendees led chants and shouted through megaphones in the center of the square, while the AFL-CIO and Louisville Democratic Socialists set up booths on the edges of the protest, handing out signs and posters.
Former state representative and candidate for U.S. Senate Charles Booker speaks to a crowd gathered for May Day protests in downtown Louisville.
Sophie Graf, co-organizer for 50501 Kentucky, a grassroots group that organized the local demonstration, said the idea of the protest was to bring several different organizations and groups together to fight for a common cause.
“It’s about unity,” Graf said. “We don’t have to agree on every single thing, but we can agree that what’s happening right now in our country is not OK.”
Protestors holding signs and American flags as part of a May Day protest in Jefferson Square Park in Louisville.
Pam King, who attended with her daughter Kayla, said she hoped the protests would foster a sense of community, especially for those who feel they are being targeted by the Trump administration’s policies. King added the protests make her feel that she is taking an active role in fighting for democracy.
“I have a lot of friends who just say they don’t watch the news and they’d rather live in a bubble, and that’s just not acceptable,” King said. “We all need to be out here fighting, because if you don’t go to the fight, the fight is going to come to you.”
Reach reporter Keely Doll at kdoll@courierjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Hundreds join May Day protest against Trump in Louisville