The gathering, which included a rally in Riverside Park, march around downtown Saranac Lake and a honk-and-wave along River Street, was co-organized by Adirondack People Power and Adirondack Voters for Change.

Adirondack People Power organizer Keela Grimmette credited Adirondack Voters for Change for securing an assembly permit at the park, which allowed for an afternoon of amplified music and performances by Somabeats, the Canoodlers, the Northern Lights and People’s choirs, Peggy Lynn and Curt Stager.

Grimmette said it added flair from the earlier rallies, and helped contribute to a “joyful” atmosphere and sense of “togetherness,” even as the issues that drove many to show up are deadly serious.

“There’s that balance between recognizing we need to stay hopeful and joyful because we understand that joy is residence, it’s part of the residence, but also just a lot of frustrations,” she said. “I think the overall feel for our rally was very upbeat, a lot of hope.”

Protesters march past the Church of St. Luke in Saranac Lake during the “No Kings” rally on Saturday. (Provided photo — Mark Kurtz)

Grimmette said it was a peaceful event and thanked the Saranac Lake Police Department for assisting with traffic crossings and hundreds marched.

“That was really, really helpful,” she said. “It made it feel like the village was supporting as well in helping us to stay peaceful and safe.”

Though there have been interim gatherings, such as the “ICE Out for Good” march in January and weekly “honk-and-wave’s in Lake Placid and walks for Ukraine, the last “No Kings” themed rally took place in October. Since then, Grimmette said the concerns and anger over the lack of Epstein Files transparency, Iran war and actions of ICE have grown amongst attendees she spoke to — including some who had different thoughts on immigration enforcement when President Donald Trump was elected in 2024.

“People had this hope of, ‘He’s going to get all the bad guys out,’ and then here he is impacting their own loved ones who they know aren’t the ‘bad guys,'” she said.

Some rally-goers voiced concerns about the administration’s military actions in Iran run contrary to the “America First” platform that was a key tenant in Trump’s campaign.

Protesters march down Church Street in Saranac Lake as part of the “No Kings” rally on Saturday. (Provided photo — Mark Kurtz)

“The feeling of, ‘We can’t fund healthcare but we can fund another war,’ was definitely a lot of what was coming up,” Grimmette said.

She added that many people at Saturday’s rally felt the recent U.S. military campaigns in Iran are being waged, in part, to distract and divert attention from the ongoing alleged Epstein files cover-up.

“The Epstein files are definitely rising to the surface,” Grimmette said. “There was a lot of verbiage around how everything feels like a distraction from that.”

–

The Epstein files

–

Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act on Nov. 19, 2025. The legislation was spearheaded by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-California, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky. It gave the U.S. Department of Justice 30 days to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession” pertaining to the late convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein and his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.

In so doing, the law requires information that might have been classified to be unclassified to the maximum extent possible. Permitted exceptions include any personally identifiable victim information, child sexual abuse material, information that could jeopardize an active federal investigation and anything that poses a threat to national security, though the law requires unclassified summaries and justifications accompanying any classified material.

Since the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s signing, the DOJ says it has released around 3.5 million pages of documents and emails, along with 180,000 images and 2,000 videos in accordance with the law.

Khanna and Massie, however, have since accused the DOJ under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi of obfuscating and failing — through omission of certain documents and overredaction of other documents that have been partially released — to abide by the law. Trump has called the files, and any allegations of wrongdoing on his behalf as it relates to them, “a big hoax.” Bondi has said the redactions serve to protect sensitive information about victims and prevent child sexual abuse materials from being released, in accordance with the law.

–

Going forward

–

Grimmette said the weekly protests will continue as they have, and the next larger event is currently slated for April 19. It’s still in the works, she said, but is likely to have an environmental theme, as April 22 is Earth Day and the Trump Administration has rolled back a slew of Obama- and Biden-era environmental and greenhouse gas emission regulations, citing high costs that the regulations passed on to consumers and a lack of meaningful climate reductions.

Grimmette said another event is slated for May 1, which coincides with International Workers’ Day. Although a national theme is often to boycott large businesses in protest of exploitative labor practices, Grimmette said that probably won’t be a focus here, given so many businesses across the Tri-Lakes small and locally-owned and operated, but that organizers are still looking at meaningful and productive ways to take action.

She said the best way for those looking to become involved is to reach out to adirondackpeoplepower@gmail.com and ask to be put on the group’s emailing list, where they send out the latest event information.