‘No King’ protests draw crowds in US cities to denounce Trump
Protesters across age groups took to the streets en masse in “No King” rallies across the United States on Saturday, denouncing what they see as US President Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and unbridled corruption.
Organizers estimate millions will turn out by day’s end at more than 2,600 planned rallies in big cities, small towns and suburbs, challenging a Trump-led agenda that has reshaped government and upended democratic norms at an unprecedented pace since he took office in January.
Overall, the demonstrations were largely lively, often featuring inflatable characters and demonstrators wearing costumes. The demographically diverse crowd includes parents pushing their children in strollers along with retirees and people with pets.
Very few, if any, violations of the law were reported.
DISAPPOINTED WITH TRUMP
“There is nothing more American than saying, ‘We have no king’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organization that led planning for Saturday’s event.
Protesters filled Times Square in New York City, where police said they had made “no protest-related arrests” even as more than 100,000 people demonstrated peacefully across the five boroughs.
Events in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago and Seattle also attracted crowds of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people each.
On the West Coast, more than a dozen demonstrations took place around the Los Angeles area, including key locations downtown. In Seattle, demonstrators filled a parade route that stretched more than a mile from downtown through the Seattle Center plaza around the city’s landmark Space Needle. More than 25,000 people protested peacefully in San Diego, police said.
The protests reflect growing unease among many Americans, especially on the ideological left, with developments such as criminal charges against people seen as Trump’s political enemies, a military crackdown on immigration and the sending of National Guard troops to American cities – a move Trump says is aimed at fighting crime and protecting immigration agents.
As his administration tries to implement its policies quickly, Trump has installed inexperienced loyalists throughout his administration and sought to exert pressure on the news media, law firms and universities.
Saturday’s demonstration was noisy but orderly, with police largely keeping a low profile.
Protesters filled the streets of Washington, DC, to march towards the US Capitol, chanting and carrying US signs, flags and balloons, as a carnival-like atmosphere took hold.
Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headpiece and holding a “No Dictatorship” sign, said: “We want to show our support for democracy and fighting for what is right. I am against overreaching power.”
In downtown Houston, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Aboyte Gamez, 30, joined a crowd that officials said numbered about 5,000 people at city hall.
“I don’t understand what’s going on in this country right now,” said Gamez, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
‘FORMER REPUBLICAN’
Kevin Brice, 70, a military veteran among the thousands of protesters gathered on the riverfront in Portland, Oregon, wore a black T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “No King since 1776″ – a reference to the year of the Declaration of Independence.
“Everything I thought I was fighting for when I served in the military seemed to be in jeopardy,” Brice said. “So even though I’ve been a Republican for a long time, I don’t support the direction the party is going.”
Steve Klopp, 74, a retired oil industrialist based in Houston, expressed similar sentiments when he wore a shirt that read “Former Republican.”
“I have been a Republican forever,” Klopp said. “My family has been Republicans forever. And the idea that one person could turn me away from the Republican Party is crazy.”
Kelly Kinsella, 38, stood among several thousand people outside the Colorado statehouse in Denver, dressed as Lady Liberty with bloody tears dripping down her face.
“Everyone comes to work stressed, and that’s because of the current conditions,” said Kinsella, who said he was motivated to work by renewed inflation that he blamed on Trump’s tariff policies.
Trump said little about Saturday’s protests. But in an interview with Fox Business broadcast on Friday he said that “they call me the king – I’m not the king.”
Although the Democratic Party has overcome internal divisions since Trump was re-elected last year, key party figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive figures such as US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have voiced support for the “No King” movement.
Saturday’s protest aims to build on the momentum gained from more than 2,000 “No King” protests held on June 14, coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.
HOUSE SPEAKER CALLS PROTESTS ANTI-American
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Friday echoed his party’s sentiments, calling the “No King” protests a “demonstration of hate against America.”
Other Republicans accused protest organizers of stoking an atmosphere that they said could lead to political violence, especially after the killing of right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk in September.
Vice President J.D. Vance, speaking Saturday before a gathering of Marines at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, made no mention of the protests. But he criticized Democrats for the government shutdown that began earlier this month due to partisan disputes over the allocation of federal funds.
Dana Fisher, a professor at the American University in Washington and author of several books on political activism, predicted that Saturday would see one of the largest demonstrations in modern US history.
He estimates more than 3 million people will take part based on registration and participation in the June event. The overall number of voters participating in the June 14 rally was estimated at 4 million to 6 million, according to a crowdsourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris.
Source: Reuters
