Trump protests sweep across U.S. ahead of Saturday's military parade
Organizers say millions attended 'No Kings' protests against authoritarianism
Demonstrators crowded into streets, parks and plazas across the U.S. on Saturday to rally against President Donald Trump as officials urged calm and mobilized National Guard troops ahead of a military parade to mark the army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with Trump's birthday.
Organizers of the "No Kings" demonstrations said millions had marched in hundreds of events. Huge, boisterous crowds marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, some behind "No Kings" banners.
There were numerous protests in the U.S. capital alone.
In Washington, D.C., where Trump is deeply unpopular, a frequent conversation topic this week was how to avoid downtown or get out of town during Saturday's military parade.
A couple of dozen mostly elderly people gathered at one such event outside their building holding signs, as passing cars constantly honked in support.
One woman at the small protest marked her 100th birthday last November, the same month Trump was re-elected. She sat in her wheelchair in the neighbourhood of Northwest Washington, along Connecticut Avenue, holding a sign that read: "We Got RID of KINGS in 1776."
"A liar. A thief," is how Elaine Newman described the president. "It's unbelievable," she said.
Newman was a union employee who worked on the 1950 U.S. census and at a tuberculosis sanitarium in Texas.
She's lived through the rise and fall of fascism, the creation of the modern welfare state and the spread of civil rights.
Now Newman said she feels disbelief at seeing an authoritarian president; his budget bill that steers money away from health programs for the poor and elderly, shifting wealth to the rich; defunded universities; and the cruelty of his mass deportation program.
"Those poor people," Newman said, referring to planned cuts to health programs.
Across the street was a Polish immigrant who recalled the authoritarians of his native country. A retired engineer, Jerry Malesa was in college during 1968 protests that led to crackdowns in eastern Europe.
He said he finds it chillingly familiar seeing institutions punished for arguing with Trump and, conversely, seeing cabinet members expected to constantly flatter the president in TV appearances.
"I really am afraid for this country," Malesa said, holding up a sign that read: "Democracy Not Autocracy."
Nearly 2,000 protests planned
"No Kings" protests were planned in nearly 2,000 locations across the country, from city blocks and small towns to courthouse steps and community parks, organizers said.
In downtown Los Angeles, thousands of people had already gathered in front of city hall well before the protest start time. They carried signs against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trump and authoritarianism.
"If not now, when?" said Christina Joubert, 46, a first-time protester who travelled from the South Bay area of Los Angeles to the event.
"Our country is suffering right now. People are suffering. It doesn't really matter who you voted for. Everyone is afraid.... I'm here to stand for people treating one another like humans again."
As protesters passed National Guard troops or U.S. marines stationed at various buildings, most interactions were friendly, with demonstrators giving fist bumps or posing for selfies, but others chanted "Shame" or "Go home" at the troops.
Peter Varadi, 54, said he voted for Trump last November for "economic reasons." Now, for the first time in his life, he is protesting, waving a combined Mexican and U.S. flag.
"I voted for Donald Trump, and now I regret that, because he's taken this fascism to a new level," Varadi said. "It's Latinos now. Who's next? It's gays. Blacks after that. They're coming for everybody."
In New York City, marchers in the crowd that stretched for blocks along Fifth Avenue had diverse reasons for coming, including anger over Trump's immigration policies, support for Palestinians and outrage over what they said was erosion of free-speech rights.
Atlanta's 5,000-capacity rally quickly reached its limit, with thousands more demonstrators outside the barrier to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol building. Law enforcement in northern Atlanta deployed tear gas to divert several hundred protesters heading toward Interstate 285. A journalist was seen being detained by officers, and police helicopters flew above the crowd.
In Charlotte, N.C., crowds cheered anti-Trump speakers in the city's First Ward Park and chanted, "We have no kings," before marching behind a "No Kings" banner. Demonstrators trying to march through downtown briefly faced off with police forming a barricade with their bicycles, chanting, "Let us walk."
In Jackson, Miss., a demonstration of hundreds of people opened to rock group Black Sabbath's War Pigs playing over a sound system on the state Capitol lawn.
Melissa Johnson said she drove an hour-and-a-half to Jackson to protest because "we are losing the thread of democracy in our country."
Intermittent light rain fell as sign-carrying marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia's Love Park and shouted "Whose streets? Our streets!" as they marched down Ben Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Protests come on heels of immigration raids
The 50501 Movement orchestrating the protests says it picked the "No Kings" name to support democracy and speak out against what it calls the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
The demonstrations come on the heels of protests that flared up across the country over federal immigration enforcement raids that began last week and Trump ordering the National Guard and marines to Los Angeles, where protesters blocked a freeway and set cars on fire.
About 1,000 people gathered on the grounds of Florida's Historic Capitol in Tallahassee, where protesters chanted, "This is what community looks like," and carried signs with messages like "One Nation Under Distress" and "Dissent is Patriotic."
Organizers of the rally explicitly told the crowd to avoid any conflicts with counter-protesters and to take care not to jaywalk or disrupt traffic.
One march approached the gates of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., where sheriff's deputies turned them back.
In Minnesota, organizers cancelled demonstrations as police worked to track down a suspect in the shootings of two Democratic legislators and their spouses.
Some protests also took place in Canadian cities, including Toronto and Vancouver.
Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis warned demonstrators that the "line is very clear" between peaceful demonstration and violence, and not to cross it.
Governors and city officials vowed to protect the right to protest and to show no tolerance for violence. Some urged calm, while Republican governors in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska and Missouri were mobilizing National Guard troops to help law enforcement manage demonstrations.
Some governors urged calm and put state police on standby for the weekend.
With files from Alexander Panetta and Rhianna Schmunk