ST. LOUIS — Hundreds of people gathered along busy roadways across the metro region Thursday as part of another round of nationwide protests by critics of President Donald Trump and his administration's policies.
Protesters lined a stretch of South Lindbergh Boulevard in south ӣƵ County and showed up along Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peters and Manchester Avenue in ӣƵ' Grove area.
They also gathered at two locations in downtown ӣƵ — outside the Old Courthouse and in Aloe Plaza near Union Station.
Along Manchester, dozens of people held signs attacking mass deportations by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, and other Trump policies.
More than 100 people turned out in St. Peters, police there said.
Along Lindbergh in South County, where more than 300 people were in attendance around 4:30 p.m., Sally Thomas, 64, was concerned about cuts to programs that support people.
People are also reading…
"It just seems like he wants to inflict harm on people who are just trying to live their lives," said Thomas, a retired graphic designer from Webster Groves.
"We've got a man in the White House who doesn't seem to care about the Constitution or the courts."
She was among protesters who stood along Lindbergh near Baptist Church Road near the Ronnie's Plaza shopping area.
Another protester on Lindbergh was Marilyn Sue Warren, 79, a retired Veterans Affairs Department nurse from South County. She said she worried about possible cuts in VA programs.
Dru Thomas, 77, a retired writer from Chesterfield, complained at the Manchester Avenue event about "overt cruelty that I've never seen from our government" in detaining and "disappearing" immigrants.
She also cited "the breakdown of our social safety net" through Medicaid cuts and "rolling back rights for women and certainly people of color."
"You have to do something, you have to make some noise," said Marie Keath, 61, a real estate agent from ӣƵ' Tower Grove South neighborhood as she stood along Manchester.
Kristin Bales, 39, a college science teacher from Union, carried a placard saying "fund science + schools, not ICE." Among other things, she expressed concern at planned cuts in scientific research at universities.
Mark Lewis, 72, a Lexington, Kentucky, resident in ӣƵ to visit relatives, said he had "a whole catalog of complaints."
Among them, he said, was the administration's efforts to cut federal support for NPR and PBS. He said that would especially hurt rural areas with few news sources. "For so much of flyover country, that's the source," he said.
Cecilia Nadal, 75, a playwright and speaker from the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood standing along Manchester, said "I can't sit at home and watch what's going on without being part of a solution to the problem."
Downtown, about 300 people showed up outside the eastern side of the Old Courthouse along Fourth Street.
One of them was Doug Leonard, 67, a retired teacher from Creve Coeur, who held a sign saying "No Kings in America Since 1776."
That echoed the theme of an earlier round of protests last month in which demonstrators called Trump a would-be king for marking his birthday with a military parade.
Leonard said among his concerns is that the three branches of the federal government no longer appear to be equal under Trump.
Sara Hughes, 43, of South County, when asked by a reporter why she was taking part in the protest against Trump's policies, said "I'm upset with the whole thing. Where do we start?"
Further west, more than 150 people were in Aloe Plaza about 6:45 p.m. After listening to speakers, they marched around several Downtown West streets.
Other ӣƵ area protests were scheduled in Belleville, Hillsboro, Carlinville; O'Fallon, Illinois, and Troy, Missouri.
The protests nationally were dubbed "Good Trouble Lives On" in honor of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a 1960s civil rights leader. Thursday was the fifth anniversary of his death.
In 2020, he had urged people to "get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and redeem the soul of America" while commemorating 1965 voting rights marches in Alabama.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Updated at 9:15 p.m. with information on downtown protests
People stood in the rain for several hours Saturday along Manchester Road in Ballwin holding signs supporting civil rights, the Constitution and free speech and criticizing President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. People driving by kept up a steady stream of honking in support, cheers and waves. More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were held Saturday, April 5, 2025, across the United States, including several in the ӣƵ region. Video by Sarah Gassen of the Post-Dispatch
