From the cheering crowds along the Baltimore Running Festival route to the rainbow flags of the Annapolis Pride Parade and the rallies that filled Towson streets, Maryland became a stage for the nationwide “No Kings 2.0” protests on Saturday.

Thousands joined events across the state — denouncing what they see as rising authoritarianism and calling for accountability — as lawmakers, activists and families marched, danced and chanted in defiance.

The No Kings 2.0 movement hit Baltimore streets Saturday morning, merging protest with the city’s biggest running day.

Along the Baltimore Running Festival route, crowds held signs, shouted chants and cheered runners as they passed. Around 300 people gathered at Patterson Park’s northeast corner — some in costume — to denounce President Donald Trump’s policies. Some runners also had protest signs.

“It’s gotten out of control,” said Sam Price, dressed as a dinosaur. “This isn’t what America is about.”

Across the country, over a million people were expected to participate in No Kings 2.0 protests, motivated by Trump’s actions while in office, including immigration enforcement arrests and National Guard deployment to cities.

Hundreds gathered at Symphony Woods in Columbia on Saturday for a No Kings 2.0 protest, where Maryland lawmakers joined demonstrators calling for accountability and unity.

Speaking to the crowd, Sen. Chris Van Hollen condemned what he described as divisive rhetoric from Republican leaders.

“Look at this group of people,” Van Hollen said. “They (Republicans) are working very hard to divide America. They have said these people are terrorists and criminals. These people are standing up for the country they love. Those types of poisonous lies that keep people from coming together.”

Marilyn, a retired federal worker from Columbia in her 70s who declined to give her last name, said she’s fighting for the America she grew up with — one respected around the world and committed to justice. Her father, a Filipino immigrant who came to the U.S. during the Great Depression, taught her what it meant to be American. He fought in World War II and the Korean War, working summers in Alaskan canneries to pay for college.

“I’m happy he’s not alive today. This would devastate him. He didn’t fight for this country to have this corruption and criminality in government that we see today,” she said.

Betsy, who also didn’t want to share her last name for fear of retribution from the government, is a former federal contractor who worked to address the HIV and Ebola epidemics in Africa. She and 2,000 colleagues lost their jobs in the DOGE cuts.

“I didn’t want to stand up here for fear of retribution or further personal suffering. But I’m done being quiet. I lost my job and my career that I love. I lost my health insurance. I had to sell my house,” she said.

In the moments after Van Hollen’s speech, she reflected, “It feels like we’re all here in solidarity.”

She found it most powerful when people in the crowd came up to her and thanked her for sharing her experience that so closely mirrored their own. “They are afraid to talk about it and appreciate my willingness to give us a voice.”

Eli Kohn was one of many protesters in inflatable costumes: frogs, unicorns and Eric Cartman from “South Park.”

Kohn dressed as a figure of death labeled “ICE” picking up a person who held a sign that said “stop Trump the terrible.” Having grown up in Columbia and living in Towson, Kohn said Trump’s policies haven’t affected him much.

The costume wasn’t a nod to Halloween but an attempt to counter the claim lauded by many Republicans and Trump that protestors are “horrible, dangerous people. But I wanted to add more of a message.”

But seeing the heartbreak in his community, of families ripped apart and people disappearing from the streets, “I can’t let myself be complacent. Then eventually it’s going to affect me horribly, and there will be nothing I can do then.”

At Riderwood Hills Park in Towson, where organizers estimated about 500 people turned out, Jan Tommila, 74, dressed as a bee and Edward Scheiderer, 81, wore a beekeeper’s outfit.

Tommila, who attended a No Kings protest in June, said the Republican party has made Trump into a “god.”

“I don’t like what’s being done in the name of America,” Tommila said. “It makes me cry. It’s now an oligarchy and we’re all struggling to just survive now.”

Retired music store owner Nancy Caporaso, 76, of Silver Spring, held up a sign that read “no kings since 1776” at a rally at Leisure World on Saturday morning.

More than 200 demonstrators gathered by 11 a.m. on International Drive near Rossmoor Boulevard. A constant stream of demonstrators joined the protest while passing drivers expressed their support by honking horns.

Demonstrators on the sidewalk chanted, “Hey, hey, let’s go! Donald Trump has got to go!”

Caporaso said she was pleased her cohorts were sharing their voices against a government she sees as authoritarian.

“I love it that all the old people are out here doing it,” she said. “I worry about where we’re going. I hate a fascist, authoritarian government that we have.”

In early June, Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles drove Laura Usher to take to the streets of her hometown, Hyattsville, to join the first nationwide No Kings day of protest.

Nearly 35,000 Marylanders participated in the first No Kings protests June 14, according to Harvard University’s Crowd Counting Consortium. It was one of the largest days of protest in U.S. history.

Now, Usher, a mental health and criminal justice consultant in her 40s, organized a second No Kings protest for Saturday afternoon. Usher said some people are “feeling hopeless” and frightened by what they see as the overstepping of the executive branch.

“I wanted them to feel empowered,” said Usher, one of four coleaders of Indivisible Route 1, a local chapter of a nationwide group that supports democracy.

There were over 50 events in Maryland, including dozens in the Baltimore area. Protesters converged on the overpasses of Bowie, danced outside Baltimore’s Penn Station, rallied in Towson and took bus convoys to the flagship march in D.C.

With the government shutdown approaching its fourth week, residents across the state are confronting financial strain, cuts to federal programs and widespread layoffs.

Todd Macfarlan, a researcher with the National Institutes of Health, brought his daughter, Ellie, and son, Ian, to protest outside the agency. Macfarlan said he has lost dozens of colleagues to layoffs.

Organizers of the Annapolis No Kings 2.0 rally moved their official protest to Sunday, saying they didn’t want to draw attention from the Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival.

Still, sprinkled through the hourlong parade, some participants held political messages like “Yaz Queen. No Kings.” which added a piquant touch to the colorful and celebratory event.

Stacey Garn of Annapolis strolled down the parade route wearing a chicken costume with a “No Kings” message in hand.

Protesters in Germantown cheered and waved signs toward Middlebrook Road. Many cars honked as they drove by, with some people clapping through open windows. About 350 people gathered Saturday afternoon at Germantown Square Urban Park, organizers said.

Among them was 82-year-old Fay Sutherland, who said she came because “the little I can do, I want to do. I want people to be aware. I want them to think.”

The protests have come under fire from some of the country’s top politicians, with House Speaker Mike Johnson dubbing the event the “Hate America Rally.” Some state leaders, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, activated the National Guard ahead of the protests.

Sonia Shah, a cofounder of Allies for Democracy, has donned sunglasses, a feather boa and an American flag to dance for democracy in Baltimore streets the third Friday of every month since May.

She and 300 people planned to dance to a DJ mixing house music beneath the silver statue at Penn Station on Saturday night. In “defiant joy,” she hopes to counter the portrayal of protesters as angry and pessimistic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article has been updated.