Hundreds of protesters marched from Kogan Plaza to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters Saturday, rebuking President Donald Trump’s deportation policies and ties to Jeffrey Epstein while also taking part in the nationwide “No Kings” protests.
Organized by GW Democracy Matters and six progressive student groups, GW’s protest drew about 500 total participants — roughly 30 percent of whom were students — and unfolded separately from the larger “No Kings” march that in the District, which organizers said they planned in an attempt to elevate student voices in the fight against Trump. Demonstrators called on Congress to impeach Trump and urged their removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi over the administration’s immigration policies and the Department of Justice’s alleged protection of Epstein and other abusers rather than protecting his victims, winding through campus as they made their way toward ICE’s headquarters.
Roughly 150 protesters filled Kogan Plaza by noon, holding signs reading “No president should have that much power” and “No thrones in America,” while organizers addressed the crowd for about 15 minutes, calling Trump unfit for office and condemning what they described as his administration’s abuse of power. Although organized separately for GW students and community members, the demonstration was part of more than 3,300 “No Kings” protests held nationwide Saturday, which organizers estimated drew about eight million participants.
Standing on Kogan’s clock tower, GW Democracy Matters President RJ Doroshewitz told the crowd that he loves his country more than he can “put into words,” which is the driving factor behind why he showed up to Saturday’s protest. Doroshewitz asked the group to be loud enough during their protest to stop the Trump administration from ignoring them, adding that the president has “rolled over” Americans’ freedoms and futures.
“Vital institutions are being unlawfully torn apart and our president is so corrupt that makes Nixon look like a nun,” Doroshewitz said. “This is our current reality, but this does not have to be our future.”
Doroshewitz said in an interview after the protest that the turnout was “incredible” and it “felt amazing” to see such a large group of students and neighbors at the demonstration. He said GW Democracy Matters and the other organizations involved in the protest chose to have their own “No Kings” protest rather than join the larger one in D.C. because students’ fight against Trump comes from a different angle as they are focused on how the president and his administration are rewriting their futures.
“It’s our futures that are on the line more than any other,” Doroshewitz said. “Not that not every other group is impacted, but we were the ones that were promised to grow up in a democratic nation. We were promised the American dream, and we’re the ones that aren’t seeing that.”
Emma Sherman, a sophomore and member of GW’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter who also serves on GW Swing Left’s e-board, said while in Kogan that the demonstrators were a representation of American patriotism. She told the crowd to make sure DOJ officials hear they are demanding “liberty and justice for all.”
“Today we marched through our nation’s capital with purpose,” Sherman said. “We marched for what our country is supposed to be and we sent a message to the Trump administration. The United States of America does not and will never bow to kings.”
Eric Gitson, vice president of GW College Democrats, said the group planned to march to the Department of Justice to demand justice for victims connected to Jeffrey Epstein, as well as to ICE headquarters to protest what he described as the agency’s “terror” in carrying out deportations. He linked these concerns to recent confrontations during federal immigration operations, including the fatal shootings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, which have intensified protests and prompted ongoing investigations and legal disputes over the incidents.
“Now today, across the country, millions of us are marching together as one, together with one powerful voice,” Gitson said. “We’re fighting back. We’re demanding a better future, and we will prevail.”
After roughly 15 minutes of speeches the group, which had swelled to 200 people, set off from Kogan to the White House, led by around 10 Metropolitan Police Department officers on bikes, while MPD cruisers enforced rolling road closures along the route. Protesters briefly stopped at the White House to chant “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go” and sing “This Land Is Your Land,” before they marched off toward the Department of Justice.
Outside the DOJ, the crowd loudly booed and called on Bondi to step down as attorney general. A speaker, who did not identify themselves to the crowd, told the crowd they had gathered at the department’s headquarters to send the message that Bondi “must go.”
“When you say, ‘liberty and justice for all,’ I ask you in this administration, who is that justice for?” they said.
On their way to the ICE headquarters, the group marched past the National Mall on 7th Street at around 1:45 p.m., where large crowds had gathered for the Blossom Kite Festival and the earlier “No Kings” rally that had reached the Lincoln Memorial. Passersby cheered throughout the protest, and some even joined the march mid-route. By the time the group arrived at the ICE headquarters at 2:10 p.m., the crowd had risen to roughly 400 people.
The group booed at the collection of officers gathered around the ICE headquarters’ entrance while also chanting “no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.” The protest concluded at about 2:30 p.m., over two hours after it began and after standing outside the ICE headquarters for 20 minutes.
