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Millions turned out at No Kings protests nationwide as a pushback against President Donald Trump’s policies on everything from tariffs to immigration raids.

Republicans criticized the protests — calling them the “hate America” rallies.

In Detroit, over ten thousand people rallied. The event started in Roosevelt Park in front of Michigan Central Depot.

Detroiter Imani didn’t want to give her last name out of fear for her safety. She wore a unicorn costume in solidarity with protesters in Portland.

“Portland is fighting hate with fun and being silly, and I like that,” she said. 

Imani adds that she’s bothered by how immigrants and U.S. citizens have been treated by federal law enforcement in other cities.

“That is a concern of mine, because Chicago is like our cousin. So if it’s happening over there, it could definitely happen over here, and that’s why I truly support what they’re doing, too, and support the way that they’re fighting back for their community.”

Following the rally, protesters marched to the Customs and Border Protection field office in Downtown Detroit.

Kassandra Rodriguez is with the Detroit Community Action Committee. She says the Trump Administration immigration crackdown means Detroit should be a sanctuary city. Rodriguez says that’s something she’s addressed with City Council President Mary Sheffield.

“When we’ve gone to city council and presented our ordinance, she did say that she would fight for immigrants, and I’m hoping that she holds to that promise.”

Rodriguez says many Latinx people stayed home in fear of ICE.

“A lot of them are very scared, you know, they view these big movements, big protests, as a place where they might get targeted. So it’s so important, even more important, that so many of us come out here and are able to elevate their voices and and share their stories.”

Detroiter Michelle Coates was near the rally, but not there to protest. She said she understands why people are upset.

“People’s tired of unrest, people’s tired of inflation, people’s tired of working day in day out, just to make ends meet. You know the cost of living is going up and up.”

Coates also echoes concerns about authoritarianism in the U.S.

“We, as people of the country of United States of America, is not just going to stand here and let him do and dictate the way he want to and just make us just bow down and just accept whatever he want to give us.”

Detroit Police arrested one pro-Trump counter protester. It was unclear if they made other arrests at the peaceful event.

More Michigan protests

Thousands more rallied across metro Detroit, with protests in Ferndale, Wyandotte and Dearborn. WDET Production Assistant José Llanas attended a No Kings rally in Ann Arbor in Veteran’s Park.

Listen what the protestors had to say below.

I think we’re moving in a direction that I just don’t really support. It would be really nice if we all got back to the normal course of business within government as well as everybody resorted back to just being decent people. Normal is what I would like to see.

 Nobody’s paying us to be here. We’re paying to be here. And, we need to end the fascism that’s happening right now. We need to save the immigrants in this country, and we need to save our citizens because we are next on the list… I just never thought that we would get here as a people.

I’ve got a lot of empathy for the people in the cities where the National Guard is actually being deployed, and so I think that the real emphasis needs to be placed on those places. And it’s fun to be here and it’s nice to have this community event, but also we need to remember why we’re here. And it’s not a really joyous thing.

A startup competition is soliciting business proposals from Indigenous entrepreneurs in Michigan. It’s called IndigiPitch, and it’s organized by 20 Fathoms, a tech startup incubator in northern Michigan.

Chief Financial Officer and Tribal Liaison Shiloh Slomsky says Native communities face more barriers to getting a business off the ground than other groups. “Number one is capital or access to representation at pitch events, or in front of venture capitals and even banking.”

IndigiPitch will place entrepreneurs in front of investors. A panel of Indigenous judges will choose the winners in December and award cash prizes.

-MPRN

Additional headlines from Tuesday, October 14, 2025

Daring Ideas for the Future

Urban Consulate’s Daring Ideas for the Future series will bring 3 MacArthur “geniuses” to Detroit this fall.

Pulitzer Prize winner and creator of the 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones will speak with Outlier Media CEO Orland Jones on October 22. Jones will lead a discussion with author Jason Reynolds and opinion writer Tressie McMillan Cottom on November 19.

The Daring Ideas for the Future conversation series invites the community to “imagine and shape” a more just and equitable future. Both events will be held at the Garden Theater.

Admission is free but registration is required. For more information visit urbanconsulate.com/daringfuture 

Detroit Free Press Marathon 

The Detroit Free Press Marathon is this Sunday and organizers are inviting the community to come out to cheer the runners on.

Runners in the International Marathon, the International Half-Marathon and the Motor City Half-Marathon versions of the race will wind through parts of Midtown, the Cass Corridor, Eastern Market and downtown.

Police will start towing cars along the marathon route at around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and keep streets blocked until 2 p.m.

Check marathon routes and get more information at freepmarathon.com/marathon/ 

Halloween at Michigan Central Station

Michigan Central is hosting Halloween at the Station. The free family events includes an Outdoor Festival on the Michigan Central Lawn and LaCombe Street with an interactive science station arts and crafts, a selfie station, airbrush tattoos, cider, doughnuts and more.

Inside, DJ Dez Andres will be holding down the Halloween edition of Fridays at the Station with Gabriel Duran Band and percussionist Dez doing a bachata set, DJ Cisco spinning Detroit classics and global grooves, Motor City Street Dance Academy performing and teaching, and live painting by demaciiio.

Costumes are encouraged but masks are not allowed. Both events are free. No registration is required for the outdoor festival. Register for Fridays at the Station at michigancentral.com/events/ 

No Kings rallies this weekend

People in more than a hundred Michigan communities plan to join nationwide protests against the Trump administration this Saturday.

That includes a “No Kings” rally at Roosevelt Park in Corktown, at Parkwood Plaza in Oak Park, and at Lathrup Village City Hall. Millions attended similar demonstrations across the country in June.  

If there’s something in your neighborhood you think we should know about, drop us a line at DetroitEveningReport@wdet.org

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Employees at the Exclusive Brands Marijuana & Cannabis Dispensary have been striking for over a month. They say they’re expected to work more without any additional pay and that when they express their concerns, their hours are cut. Employees are attempting to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which already represents cannabis workers in Michigan, but they say Exclusive refuses to recognize their union.

Emily Hull, a striking budtender at Exclusive Brands in Ann Arbor, and Megan Carvalho, the national campaign coordinator for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union’s cannabis program, joined the show to discuss the working conditions at the dispensary and the state of the strike.

The Metro contacted the head of Exclusive Brands’ Ann Arbor facility. We have not heard back.

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During the Great Depression, auto workers organized a march from Detroit to the Ford Rouge Factory in Dearborn. Thousands of people took to the streets to fight for jobs when nearly half of workers in Detroit were unemployed. The event is now known as the Ford Hunger March, and it was one of the most significant events leading to the creation of the United Auto Workers union. 

Friends of the Rouge and the Fort Rouge Gateway Partnership joined forces to construct the Fort Street Bridge Interpretive Park to celebrate those who fought for workers rights and commemorate that pivotal moment in labor history. 

The first phase of the park project was completed in 2020 and construction for the second phase of the project started in mid-September. 

Paul Draus, a professor of sociology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a board member of the Friends of Rouge joined the show to discuss the importance of this park and the history it honors. 

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