As Gov. Glenn Youngkin attended a reenactment of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech Sunday at St. John’s Church, more than 500 protesters gathered outside, calling attention to what they described as modern-day threats to democracy.

The demonstration, dubbed “No Kings in America,” was organized in less than a week by former teacher Lauren Natale, who said she was surprised by the turnout. Protesters attempted to engage Youngkin with a modified version of Henry’s speech, but the governor avoided the crowd, opting to leave out the back of the church.

 Gov. Glenn Youngkin was met with loud protests as he exited the back of the church onto Grace Street at about 3 p.m.
 

Natale, who has no prior experience organizing protests, said she expected only a handful of people to join her.

“At first I thought no one was going to attend,” Natale said. “I thought it would just be like me and my husband out there with a couple of signs, because who’s going to listen to some random person?”

Among those in attendance was state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield. Natale said church leaders were aware of the protest in advance and had no objections.

“We reached out to them ahead of the event to let them know that I was going to be outside with a whole bunch of protesters. And they were like, you know what? That’s what we’re all about,” she said.

 Protesters gather outside St. John’s Church during a reenactment marking the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s iconic revolutionary speech.
 

Standing on a truck bed used as a stage, Natale delivered a rewritten version of Henry’s speech, addressing Youngkin directly. She said she focused on the governor because, as a Virginia representative, he was easier to approach.

“I thought he was somebody that has a conscience that maybe I could access,” Natale said. “I really hope that we can convince Republicans who are reasonable people to abandon Trump and to not stay loyal to him because he has no loyalty to them.”

 The “No Kings in America” protest highlighted concerns about authoritarianism and the state of democracy in the U.S.
 

Youngkin did not directly engage with the protest but made reference to it during his speech inside the church.

“Now, you might have noticed that there are some enthusiastic friends outside,” Youngkin said, according to Fox News. “Don’t worry about them because I am happy to do whatever it takes to get someone to church on Sunday.”

The demonstrations remained “extremely peaceful” throughout, but became tense once demonstrators realized the governor was attempting to leave through the back exit, Natale said.

“That was a very obvious example of his cowardice, that he couldn’t come out on the event that celebrates the power of political speech, to come out and acknowledge the political speech that was happening at his doorstep,” Natale said.