Millions gathered in cities across the U.S. and Europe on Saturday as part of the No Kings protests, demonstrating against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.
The organizers behind the protests — who emphasized the importance of remaining peaceful — said there were over 2,600 registered events across all 50 states.
Saturday’s protests come three months after the initial nationwide No Kings demonstrations on June 14, organized as a counter-protest to the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade in Washington, D.C., which fell on President Trump’s birthday.
People packed into New York City's Times Square, Boston Common and Chicago's Grant Park; outside state capitols in several Republican-led states and a courthouse in Billings, Montana; and at hundreds of smaller public spaces.
In Washington, Iraq War Marine veteran Shawn Howard said he had never participated in a protest before but was motivated to show up because of what he sees as the Trump administration's “disregard for the law.” He said immigration detentions without due process and deployments of troops in U.S. cities are “un-American” and alarming signs of eroding democracy.
“I fought for freedom and against this kind of extremism abroad,” said Howard, who added that he also worked at the CIA for 20 years on counter-extremism operations. “And now I see a moment in America where we have extremists everywhere who are, in my opinion, pushing us to some kind of civil conflict.”
Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Chris Murphy of Connecticut were among the political headliners at the No Kings rally in Washington.
Bill Nye, known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy," compared President Trump to King George III and criticized the administration's approach to science during his address to protesters in Washington.
"They do not promote the progress of science. They suppress it, to the detriment of our health, well-being, and international competitiveness," Nye said. "It is a formula for failure."
In San Francisco, hundreds of people spelled out “No King!” and other phrases with their bodies on Ocean Beach. Hayley Wingard, who was dressed as the Statue of Liberty, said she too had never been to a protest before. Only recently she began to view Trump as a “dictator.”
“I was actually OK with everything until I found that the military invasion in Los Angeles and Chicago and Portland — Portland bothered me the most, because I'm from Portland, and I don't want the military in my cities. That's scary,” Wingard said.
Salt Lake City demonstrators gathered outside the Utah State Capitol to share messages of hope and healing after a protester was fatally shot during the city’s first “No Kings” march in June.
And more than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and the city’s history of protests and the critical role it played in the Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.
“It just feels like we’re living in an America that I don’t recognize,” said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65% of the vote last November.
“It was so encouraging,” Yother said. “I walked in and thought, ‘Here are my people.’”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker addressed protesters in Chicago, where President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to allow the National Guard to be deployed following clashes between residents and federal immigration authorities in recent weeks.
"History will judge us by where we choose to stand right now, today. Future generations will ask: 'What did we do when fellow human beings face persecution? When our rights were being abridged? When our constitution was under attack?'" Pritzker asked. "They'll want to know whether we stood up or we stayed silent."
The recent rallies come against the backdrop of a government shutdown, which is in its 18th day, that not only has closed federal programs and services, but is testing the core balance of power as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that organizers warn are a slide toward American authoritarianism.
Over 200 organizations have partnered to put the protests together, including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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“Over the past few months thousands of people have organized once again in their communities, on the ground locally, volunteering to bring their neighbors, families and friends together to say unequivocally, ‘We have no kings,’” said No Kings organizer Eunice Epstein-Ortiz.
They led sessions leading up to Saturday in which speakers have shared tips for de-escalating potential confrontations and have prepared for cases in which the National Guard could get called in, given the Trump administration’s decision to authorize their presence in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Memphis, Tenn., and the Chicago area.
The ACLU emphasized that the First Amendment protects the right to assemble and express your views through protest, laying out what protesters should do if they are approached by law enforcement.
From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as "communists” and “Marxists."
"I encourage you to watch — we call it the Hate America rally — that will happen Saturday," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
According to NBC News, President Trump is in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend and has no public events on his schedule.
