Karen Quesnel worked in the Justice Department for 32 years. Today, she says, she doesn’t recognize her country.
“That’s not the America I worked for,” said Quesnel, “I’m heartbroken when I see what’s going on in the news.”
That’s how the 63-year-old West Virginian ended up in a frog costume at Washington, D.C.’s No Kings protest on Saturday, Oct. 18.
“The frog is just an example of how ridiculous this regime is with its overreaction. This is a we love America rally, this is not a we hate America rally,” said Quesnel, whose frog costume was a nod to the viral costume-wearing protesters in Portland, Oregon, where immigration enforcement agents have been deploying violent tactics against protesters – including using teargas in residential areas.
“We’re trying to show that they’re ridiculously overreacting, especially in the situation in Portland. Those are peaceful protests, and they’re shooting priests in the head with pepper balls.”
Quesnel was one of nearly 7 million people across the country to protest on Oct. 18, 2025 in a day billed by organizers as a fight for American democracy. The protest, organized by a coalition of progressive groups including 50501 and Indivisible, comes at a time of growing constitutional overreaches by the Trump administration and high-profile, violent immigration enforcement actions which have drawn widespread condemnation.
In Washington a crowd of almost 200,000 people, according to crowd and data analysis by Newsweek, packed together on Pennsylvania Avenue to hear from a star-studded line up of speakers including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and celebrity scientist Bill Nye. Protesters — many of whom worked as public servants — emphasized their love for America. Some even came dressed as Uncle Sam.
Quesnel was far from the only attendee to come in costume.
Laura Buckwald, 62, from Springfield, Virginia attended the protest in a handmade colonial-era outfit.
“I’m just a colonial woman who is very upset at the King and I believe that we should end this tyranny right now,” said Buckwald. “We are defending our democracy from people who want to take it away and want to install a tyrant, and we’re not going to stand for that.”
But just a few streets over in front of the Washington Monument, a different rally was taking place.
The Lost Voices of Fentanyl rally, organized by the nonprofit Lost Voices of Fentanyl and attended by hundreds of people, highlighted a darker part of American life.
Joette Johnson, 51, from Brookville, Indiana, lost her son to fentanyl poisoning in 2020.
“We are here to make changes, try to get things turned around and this administration, finally, is starting to listen to our voices, starting to make changes, and we appreciate that,” said Johnson, who sported a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat as she walked through the crowd of No Kings protesters.
Charles Holley, 65, from Gallapolis, Ohio walked with Johnson and a few others from the Lost Voices of Fentanyl rally to the No Kings protest.
“I lost my oldest son to Fentanyl poisoning, and we’re here to show our support for something to be done in recognition of the fact of the prior administration’s failures,” said Holley. “And I’m down here to see how many people have Trump derangement syndrome.”
Throughout the protest, other people sporting MAGA attire walked through the crowds on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Christina Bates, 46, from Batesville, Indiana said the No Kings protesters had expressed interest in her family’s story.
“We’ve had somebody within the No Kings march stop and ask for a picture of the back of my sister’s shirt, there’s a QR code on there. She stopped and wanted to know Garrett’s story,” said Bates. “And so to me it’s stuff like that. That’s what we are here for. We want people to know that fentanyl is bad, and it’s here, and it’s killing more Americans than any other war ever did.”
While the Lost Voices of Fentanyl rally-goers expressed hope in Trump’s administration which, they say, has taken more action against fentanyl than the Biden administration, the No Kings protesters warned against another great threat in America — the erosion of democracy.
Peggy Knudson, 65, from Washington DC also came to the No Kings protest dressed in her best colonial attire.
“Trump is trying to make this nation into a dictatorship, and that is not what the founding fathers had in mind when they created the United States of America,” said Knudson.
Josh Collins, 46, from Washington, DC, attended the protest with Knudson and dressed as a colonial general.
“I’m here because I’m tired of watching the complete destruction and erosion of our democracy,” said Collins.
Two visions of American history – is America steeped in a new revolutionary war, or a war against deadly drugs? – collided on Saturday. No one, it seems, is quite sure which vision will win.
Image credits: Cover photo by Bex Heimbrock/Al-Hikmah.
Al-Hikmah 
Leave a comment