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More than 100,000 people gathered at Boston Common on Saturday afternoon for the No Kings protest, according to event organizers. The demonstration was part of a nationwide day of action opposing President Donald J. Trump and his administration’s policies. Lasting from noon to 3 p.m., the protest was organized by a coalition of activist groups including Indivisible Massachusetts, Mass 50501, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts.

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The Good Trouble Brass Band, an activist music group based in Cambridge and Somerville, energized the growing crowd, leading chants of “When America is under attack, what do we do? We fight back!”

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 addressed the raucous crowd, directly challenging the White House. “Day after day, the president and his corrupt cabinet mistake cruelty for greatness and chaos for power,” she said. “These are the tools of a tyrant.”

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During Mayor Wu’s speech, a small counterprotest broke out near the front barricade over her handling of the Israel-Palestine crisis. When emcee Rahsaan D. Hall returned to the stage, he quickly diffused tensions. “This is what democracy looks like,” he told the crowd. “It’s not nice and neat and squeaky. It’s messy, it’s disruptive, it’s uncomfortable. So if we can’t tolerate disruption within the midst of our own disruptive protest, we’re doing it wrong.”

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Senator Elizabeth A. Warren took aim at President Donald J. Trump, describing him as “weak” and a “bully.” She went on to taunt her Republican colleagues in Washington, saying, “They know that Trump is not a king, but they seem to have lost something. Not a single one of them has a spine.”

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Tensions begin to boil during Senator Warren’s speech, when two counterprotesters push their way to the front of the crowd, where they were then surrounded by three volunteers in orange vests.

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Counterprotesters Lara Simpson and Shawn Nelson waded through the protest, dissenting against Warren’s remarks as volunteers held signs reading “AGITATOR, ignore and move on! We’re here for democracy and freedom.” Simpson filmed the crowd on a livestream, later being protected by volunteers who clasped their hands together and formed a circle to transport both Simpson and Nelson through the crowd.

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House Minority Whip Katherine M. Clark fires up the crowd in support of Representative-elect Adelita S. Grijalva, declaring, “Patriots support free and fair elections, and when patriots elect a congresswoman from Arizona, we swear her in.” Clark is alluding to House Speaker J. Michael “Mike” Johnson’s refusal to swear in Grijalva, despite her victory in the Arizona special election three weeks ago. Johnson maintains that he will do so once the government shutdown is resolved.

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Congressman Seth W. Moulton ’01 was met with boos when he took the stage.

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As the protest wraps up, Hall encourages the crowd to use the available resources, ignore any agitators and go in peace. “If this is the radical left, let's show them how we move in love.”