‘No Kings’ protesters emerge en masse for anti-Trump rallies

By Brad Brooks

(Reuters) -Protesters of all age groups, many with children and their pets, took to the streets en masse across the United States on Saturday for “No Kings” rallies, denouncing what they see as U.S. President Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies and rampant corruption.

Organizers expected millions of people to attend more than 2,600 rallies planned in big cities, small towns and suburbs by the end of the day, challenging the agenda that has reshaped the government and upended democratic norms at an unprecedented pace since Trump took office in January.

By all accounts the demonstrations were largely festive; many featured inflatable characters and marchers dressed in red, white and blue. Among the demographically mixed crowds were many parents pushing teenagers in strollers as well as older attendees.

Little, if any, lawlessness was reported.

“There is nothing more American than saying, ‘We have no kings,’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organization that spearheaded planning for Saturday’s events.

The New York Police Department said more than 100,000 people protested peacefully across all five boroughs and that the NYPD “made zero arrests related to the protests.” Events in Boston, Chicago and Atlanta also drew crowds.

The protests reflected growing unease among many Americans, especially the ideological left, with developments such as criminal prosecution of Trump’s perceived political enemies, militarized immigration crackdowns and the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities.

As his administration sought to quickly implement its policies, Trump placed inexperienced loyalists in his administration’s ranks and sought to put pressure on the news media, law firms, and higher education.

The rallies were loud but orderly; The police were largely trying to keep a low profile.

In Washington, demonstrators filled the street chanting slogans and carrying banners, US flags and balloons as they marched towards the US Capitol. Many people and their dogs wore costumes in a relaxed, carnival-like atmosphere.

Protester Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headgear and carrying a “No to Dictator Sloppy” banner, said: “We want to show our support for democracy and fighting for what’s right. I’m against the overreach of power.”

In downtown Houston, 30-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Aboyte Gamez joined a crowd that officials said numbered about 5,000 at City Hall on Saturday afternoon.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in this country right now,” said Gamez, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

Kevin Brice, a 70-year-old military veteran who was among thousands of protesters flocking to the riverside area of ​​Portland, Oregon, wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan “No King Since 1776.”

“It seems like everything I stood for while serving in the military is at risk,” Brice said. “So even though I’m a lifelong Republican, I don’t support the direction the party is going.”

Steve Klopp, 74, a Houston-based oil industry retiree, expressed similar sentiments while wearing a shirt that read “Old Republican.”

“I’ve been a Republican forever,” Klopp said. “My family has always been Republican. And the idea that one person could pull me away from the Republican Party is crazy.”

Standing among thousands of people gathered outside the Colorado statehouse in Denver, 38-year-old Kelly Kinsella was dressed as the Statue of Liberty, with bloody tears streaming down her face and holding a “No Kings” sign.

Kinsella said his motivation to go to work was largely due to renewed inflation, which he blamed on Trump’s tariff policies. “Everyone comes to work stressed, and that’s because of the current conditions,” he said.

TRUMP SAID HE WAS NOT KING

Trump said little about Saturday’s protests. But “They talk about me as the king, I’m not the king,” he said in an interview aired on Fox Business on Friday.

More than 300 grassroots groups helped organize Saturday’s marches, Greenberg said. The American Civil Liberties Union said it had provided legal guidance and “de-escalation” training to tens of thousands of people to serve as marshals in various marches.

As the Democratic Party deals with internal divisions over the best way to oppose Trump, party establishment figures like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive firebrands like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have voiced their support for the “No Kings” movement.

Saturday’s protests were aimed at building on grassroots momentum organized by organizers of more than 2,000 “No to Kings” protests on June 14, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.

Republicans claim protests are anti-American

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed his party’s common slogan on Friday, calling the “No Kings” protests a “hate-America rally.”

Other Republicans accused rally organizers of fueling an atmosphere that could encourage more political violence, especially after the September killing of right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.

Dana Fisher, a professor at American University in Washington and the author of several books on American activism, predicts that Saturday could see the largest protest turnout in modern US history.

Based on registration and attendance for the June events, he expected more than 3 million people to attend.

Overall attendance at the “No to Kings” rallies on June 14 was estimated at between 4 million and 6 million people, according to crowdsourcing analysis published by leading data journalist G. Elliott Morris on the Strength in Numbers blog site.

Fisher said the protests “will not change Trump’s policies, but they may embolden elected officials at all levels who oppose Trump.”

(Reporting by Brad Brooks, AJ Vicens and David Shephardson; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Cynthia Osterman, Nick Zieminski and Diane Craft)