No Kings 2.0 at Geneseo
A record breaking country-wide day of peaceful demonstration
Photo courtesy of Christian Chaffee
Last Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, Geneseo joined over 2,700 other peaceful protests across the US in a second series of No Kings protests, which saw over seven million attendees, according to No Kings. Like other No Kings events, Geneseo held a “nationwide day of defiance” to the second Trump Administration, according to Geneseo Peace Action. Protesting began at 10:00am against the increasingly authoritarian actions of the federal government.
Peace Action Geneseo (PAG),is a chapter of Peace Action New York State (PANYS) —a non-partisan grassroots organizing network that seeks to promote demilitarization and humanitarian aid. Geneseo’s No Kings peaceful protest was cohosted with Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace (GVCP). As stated by GVCP, they are a “nonviolent activist group” which advocates for “peace, justice and freedom,” alongside anti-militarist policies, who also remain a chapter of PANYS. According to their constitution, PAG is “a non-partisan student group dedicated to empowering student advocates to take action on problems of peace and justice, such as militarism and humanitarian issues.”
For this article, we spoke with several members of Peace Action Geneseo, including co-presidents Sarah Schoeneman and Abigail Persons and secretary Kathleen Mahoney, who all served as peace marshals for Saturday’s protest, with Schoeneman being one of the many key organizers of this protest. Member Christian Chaffee and public relations chair Regan Russell also gave insights into the holistic process behind organizing this protest.
According to board members, this organization has been on campus since 2012 and has affiliate organizations like “Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace (GVCP), Indivisible, Hemlock Rising, and the student chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA),” according to Persons. These groups provide Peace Action with the members, aid in organizing events from a senior perspective, and general assistance for needs that could arise. Though this protest specifically was co-hosted by Peace Action and GVCP, but according to Mahoney it “would not have been possible without the help of many other groups.”
Chaffee, who served as a peace marshal (a member of the organizing team focused on keeping protest peaceful) and videographer at the protest, was also able to provide his perspective on the execution of No Kings 2.0 in Geneseo. When talking about what made this protest successful, he said, “All peace marshals were sent a packet as to their expectations and duties in keeping people safe, and the event peaceful. The packet included what to wear, deescalation techniques, [and] what to do in certain situations that can arise at a protest.” He also spoke on the meeting Peace Action held the week prior, trying to dissuade all concerns among those interested in attending, and through this process allowed him and other marshals to “thoroughly” understand their duties. In this careful structuring of the protest and the marshal's duties, he believes the protest resulted in a complete success.
According to Peace Action, this protest drew in about 1100 attendees, which, according to Mahoney, was a “record turnout.” Schoeneman elaborated, saying, “It beat our previous record set last April during Hands Off! of 650.” Chaffee, Schoeneman, and Persons added that a large number was anticipated—though that amount of participants did not register via the website Mobilize—and their 20 marshals did a phenomenal job, likewise with members of the Geneseo Police Department in ensuring the safety of all those demonstrating. Chaffee added, “It really helped that the marshals stayed in constant communication with one another…the extensive cooperation and coordination across all groups [was] a great site to see, not to mention that by and large we all kept our cool, and stayed calm and focused.” Overall, it was a phenomenal sight to see so many people, cooperating in such a cordial manner with one another for the sake of a heartfelt cause.
When talking about those in attendance Chaffee also commented, “Just how peaceful the crowd was also seriously helped us, everyone I could see was very respectful and cooperative, and listened to the peace marshals and police officers when needed.” Mahoney also added that this turnout “left me with a lot of hope.” She explained that “over 1,000 people showed up to stand up to Trump’s attempts to undermine democracy. People are not willing to tolerate Trump’s authoritarianism and the turnout for No Kings proved this.” She emphasized that “Even when our political future is uncertain and scary, there are still ways to show up to contribute to positive change, with participation in No Kings being an example of this.” The success of the Oct. 18 demonstration is a prime example of how peaceful protest is supposed to operate and the potential good that such a record-breaking gathering could bring.
In closing, Schoeneman left us with a powerful message: “While we saw success in our numbers and overall experience, we will not let ourselves be blinded to the reason we are doing this. Peaceful protesting is the visual counterpart to quieter yet meaningful actions, such as calling representatives, writing letters and emails, community service, and civic participation. The most important work is done behind the scenes by average people. Protesting is a reminder that a large group of people support the movement. Seeing and being seen helps us to recognize demands for change, and we must use this recognition to go the extra step. But both the loud and confrontation and the quiet and tedious must happen. So our work is far from done.”
To show your support and continue engaging in actions like these, on Oct. 25, 2025, there will be a Rally for Palestine at 1:00pm in Veterans Memorial Park, cohosted by YDSA. Likewise, members would like you to know that Peace Action meets weekly on Tuesdays at 6:15pm in Bailey 101 and that anyone is welcome to attend.
For those interested, you can find a collection of photos from this demonstration via the Genesee Valley Indivisible group, which members say is worth checking out!