Categories: USA

Thousands of people protest against the administration of Trump in Kansas City March

By Kendrick Calfee | The Kansas City star

Thousands of people gathered in “March for Democracy” in downtown Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, expressing his concerns about what several walkers called an exaggerated exercise by the federal government on the rights of citizens.

The eyebrows, the smiles, the cries and the salient tears occupied the faces of passionate demonstrators, who begged songs that resounded concrete buildings from the height of the sky.

In the middle of the morning, thousands of walkers bordered the sidewalks of the 13th street, wrapping several pâtés of Oak Street houses with Main Street. The massive crowd walked a little more than one mile from the city center to the west side of the Union station, culminating in a huge gathering on the lawn of the National Museum of the First World War and the Memorial.

Walking has gathered people with a collection of causes heavy on their hearts, some deeply personal.

“ Really horrible and offensive ”

Susan Wyssmann, 73, said that his daughter is working for a subsidy program funded by the federal government that teaches children the environment. This program, she said, has been reduced among other federal cuts by the Ministry of Government Elon Musk.

“I’m sure there are government ineffectiveness,” said Wyssmann. “But take a hammer and accident agencies, jobs and rights of people without any kind of regular procedure … is really horrible and offensive for me.”

Kansas Citians are among the thousands through the country feeling the effects of a federal labor reduction. Some have already spoken to the star of loss of their jobs and feared the effects of fewer federal workers.

Many in the crowd said on Saturday that they shared similar fears. Several strike panels have been decorated with messaging against Musk and President Donald Trump.

People with megaphones positioned in the crowd on Saturday led songs, in particular “it is what democracy looks like”, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Elon Musk had at the idea” and “Love, Not hate, makes America brilliant”.

Cars that pass in the street next to them have obeyed the panels reading “Honk for Democracy”, causing noisy cheers.

“Threatening our democracy”

A mother among the crowd said that she had decided to walk because she was deeply concerned about overcoming the government.

Pushing her toddler in a stroller, Michaela Meckel said that the federal government went against her values and that she wanted to raise awareness.

“I’m really concerned about threats to freedom of expression,” said Meckel.

Meckel discussed the Trump administration’s immigration policy and its attempt to use a law in wartime to allow certain deportations. She said that the use of a war law at a time of peace concerned it.

“I think that freedom of expression and checks and counterweights (in) our constitution are so fundamental to what makes America a place that has, you know, a world leader for so long,” said Meckel. “And I think that current policies really threaten our democracy and our ability to be a leader in the world.”

The demonstrators Kim Vanmaren and her husband Roger Vanmaren arrived at the walk well before the start.

Kim Vanmuren said she thought he had seen a gradual dismantling of the democratic system as she once knew.

“We both see the executive power to take the place, too much space, far too power, far too many words far from the other balancing factors of our federal government,” said Kim Vanmuren. “We are frustrated that Congress does not get up and assumes their responsibilities to balance power.”

The drums and the voices exploded around them while Kim and her husband spoke to the star of their concerns. They called for more people to speak, saying that the massive participation rate on Saturday was encouraging, but that walking itself would not be enough.

‘Really get angry’

Roger Vanmuren, a former superintendent of the school district, said that he was concerned about the executive decree of the Trump administration to dismantle the education department. Neither he nor his wife had already attended an organized demonstration. But a list of unknowns encouraged them to come on Saturday, he said.

“They are told that they have no value when you get rid of the Ministry of Education, in particular marginalized,” said Roger Vanmuren. “It really makes me angry.”

Sitting on a concrete slab near the Union station, Linda Jurkiewicz, 66, criticized the federal government for what she said that she thought she was a lack of diplomacy.

“I am shocked that we could have been a country of such a ugliness,” said Jurkiewicz.

Jurkiewicz said that she had the impression that a large part of the nation is not well informed of current events and called on young leaders to get more involved in the democratic process. Partisan policy has made a gap between “real problems of problems,” she said.

“And I admit, honestly, I mean, I would have liked to do more,” said Jurkiewicz. “I would like to have called my senators, you know, I would like to do this kind of thing, to have written them and I do not do any of this.”

Living the demonstration with her grandmother on Saturday, Chloé Fischer, 19, said that feelings of injury and hope can live at the same time.

A student at the University of Missouri Kansas City studying journalism, Fischer said that she felt forced to walk for press freedom and freedom of expression.

“It is important to be able to sympathize with other people,” said Fischer. “When other people are attacked, it is always important to me, even if it does not affect me personally. Other people are just as important. ”

Originally published: March 29, 2025 at 2:42 p.m.