No Kings: protests within the eye of the storm

As President Donald Trump kicked off a birthday army parade on the streets of Washington, DC, what’s estimated as roughly 2,000 occasions have been held throughout the US and past — protesting Trump and Elon Musk’s evisceration of presidency companies, an unprecedented crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and numerous different actions from the administration in its first 5 months. Held below the title “No Kings” (with, as you’ll see, one conspicuous exception), they’re the newest in a number of mass protests, following April’s Hands Off occasions and a wave of Tesla Takedown demonstrations in March.

As The Verge’s Tina Nguyen went to downtown DC, we additionally despatched reporters to No Kings demonstrations spanning the nation, plus a “No Tyrants” occasion within the UK. How would they unfold after guarantees of “very heavy drive” in opposition to protesters within the capital, after the deployment of 1000’s of army troops in a transfer a choose has bluntly referred to as unlawful, and after guarantees to “liberate” town of Los Angeles from its “burdensome management” by native elected officers? What concerning the in a single day killing of a Minnesota Democratic state consultant and her husband, and the capturing of a Democratic state senator and his spouse?

The reply, on the occasions we attended, was pretty calmly — even in opposition to a backdrop of chaos.

Downtown Los Angeles, California

An inflatable child Donald Trump, wearing a diaper, hovered over throngs of individuals rallying outdoors of Los Angeles City Hall. Demonstrators outnumbered clumps of California National Guard members in fatigues posted up alongside sidewalks.

“Go residence to your households, we don’t want you in our streets,” one younger particular person carrying a protracted braid down her again tells them whereas marching previous. “Trump come catch these palms foo!” the again of her signal reads. I can’t see what the entrance says, however I can inform there’s an empty bag of Cheetos pasted to it.

The huge child joins the march, floating by means of the streets of Downtown LA over demonstrators. A flatbed truck rolls forward of it, the band — possibly LA’s personal Ozomatli? — singing “We don’t like Trump” to the tune of “We Want The Funk.”

Ducking inside Grand Central Market from the march, I speak to Puck and Twinkle Toes — two demonstrators in line for the general public restrooms. Twinkle Toes tells me she’s a part of an activist clown collective referred to as Imp and Circumstance, carrying pink and white clown make-up and a striped pink and white bow wrapped round a free hair bun atop her head. She’s right here exercising her proper to free speech, she says.

“The extra individuals which might be out right here, the extra we all know that this isn’t okay. That we don’t need an autocrat. We need democracy,” Puck tells me, including that the Pride March in Hollywood final weekend was “nothing however love and sunshine” regardless of protests and burning driverless vehicles making headlines in downtown. “The information tries to make you suppose all of LA is rioting. It’s not.” Puck says.

Back out on the streets, a younger man rapidly writes “Fuck ICE” on a black wall with white spray paint earlier than a gaggle of older demonstrators carrying floppy hats shushes him away — warning him that tagging will solely appeal to extra legislation enforcement.

Further alongside, one other older man with tufts of white hair protruding below his Lakers cap walks stiffly and slowly alongside below the summer time solar. A Mexican flag draped throughout his shoulders, he crosses Hope Street. A younger man carrying a Nike cap makes his approach over to ask if he needs water; the previous man accepts a bottle and retains strolling with out stopping. The march has looped round downtown, and is coming to an finish again at City Hall. As I make my option to my bus cease, a line of police automobiles — sirens blasting — whizzes previous me, again towards the group nonetheless gathering round City Hall.

The Los Angeles Police Department issued a dispersal order for components of downtown Los Angeles later within the afternoon, citing individuals “throwing rocks, bricks, bottles and different objects.” Law enforcement reportedly cleared crowds utilizing fuel, and the LAPD approved using “much less deadly” drive.

Four completely different “No Kings” protests within the higher Portland space on Saturday drew large crowds of tens of 1000’s throughout town. Various activists, authorities officers, and representatives for politicians spoke on the rallies, which additionally featured music and reside performances. (One marketed free drag exhibits.)

Protesters of all ages got here with canine, strollers, flags, banners, and hand-made indicators. At the downtown waterfront, some vacationer boats appeared to nonetheless be departing, however the bike rental stand (which additionally sells ice cream) was closed for the day with a hand-lettered rationalization studying “No crowns, no thrones, no kings” and “Americans in opposition to oligarchy.” Women showing to be organizers handed out free American flags; many attendees got here with their very own American flags modified to fly the other way up.

Most protesters introduced indicators expressing a variety of sentiments on the theme of “No Kings.” Some indicators have been surprisingly verbose (“If the founders wished a unitary government (a king) we’d all nonetheless be British”) whereas others have been extra succinct (“Sic semper tyrannis”). Others opted for easy photographs, similar to an image of a crown crossed out, or — much less often — a guillotine.

The waterfront park space was stuffed with individuals from the shoreline to the curb of the closest avenue, the place protesters held up indicators to passing vehicles that honked in approval. The honking of a passing hearth truck despatched the group into an uproarious cheer.

Portland is a couple of thousand miles from the border with Mexico, however the flag of its distant neighbor nation has emerged as protest iconography in solidarity with Los Angeles. The rainbow satisfaction flag was flown as usually because the Mexican flag. Military veterans have been scattered all through the group, some figuring out themselves as having seen motion in conflicts spanning from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Emanuel, an Air Force veteran, instructed me that he had turned out in protection of the structure and due course of, saying, “Nobody has any rights if one particular person doesn’t have any rights.”

Anger was directed at ICE and the mass deportations all all through the day, in signage, in chants, and in rally speeches.

The earlier night time, about 150 individuals protested at a neighborhood ICE facility — coincidentally situated by the Tesla dealership — a mile south of downtown, close to a freeway exit. The ICE facility protests, which have been steady for some days, have been steadily increase. A few “No Kings” indicators have been current on Friday. (The following day, a handful of “Chinga la migra” indicators would present up on the “No Kings” protests). Demonstrators stood on the curb urging passing vehicles to “Honk in the event you hate fascists,” efficiently eliciting automotive horns each few seconds, together with some from a pristine white Tesla.

Federal legislation enforcement in camo and helmets, their faces obscured, maced and shot at protesters with pepper balls, concentrating on them by means of the gates and sniping at them from the rooftop of the constructing. A handful of protesters — many carrying fuel masks and respirators — shaped phalanx formations within the driveway, wielding umbrellas and handmade shields.

On Saturday, a speaker at one of many “No Kings” rallies marketed the occupation of the ICE facility, saying, “We’re a sanctuary metropolis.” The crowd — replete with American flags each the other way up and proper facet up — cheered.

Nearly each intersection on Pasco County’s State Road 54 appears to be like the identical: a cross-section of strip malls, every anchored by a Walmart or Target or Publix, surrounded by a mixture of eating places, nail salons, and fuel stations. It’s not an setting that’s notably conducive to protests, however tons of of individuals turned out in humid, 90-plus diploma climate anyway. The total measurement of the group is difficult to find out, however it’s bigger than I — and different attendees — anticipated, given the native demographics. (Trump gained 61 p.c of the vote in Pasco County in 2024.)

Everyone is on the sidewalk; an organizer with a megaphone tells individuals to make use of crosswalks in the event that they’re going to try to courageous the six-lane freeway. Two days earlier, Governor Ron DeSantis mentioned Floridians might legally run over protesters on the road in the event that they really feel “threatened.”

So far, most drivers appear pleasant. There are numerous supportive honks. One lady rolls down her window and thanks the protesters. “I really like you! I want I could possibly be with you, however I’ve to work immediately!” she yells as she drives away. Not everyone seems to be amenable. A person in a MAGA hat marches by means of the group waving a “skinny inexperienced line” flag and yelling “lengthy reside the king!” as individuals within the crowd name him a traitor. A pickup truck drives by blasting “Ice Ice Baby,” waving one other pro-law enforcement flag.

The protesters have flags, too: American flags massive and small, some the other way up; Mexican; Ukrainian; Palestinian; Canadian; completely different configurations of satisfaction and trans flags. Their indicators, like their flags, illustrate their numerous causes for attending: opposition to Trump’s “huge stunning” funding invoice, DOGE’s funds cuts, and ICE arrests; assist for immigrants, authorities employees, and Palestinians. One lady wears an inflatable rooster swimsuit. Her pal pulls an effigy of Trump — dressed to look each like an eighteenth-century monarch, a taco, and a rooster — alongside her.

Most of the demonstrators are on the older facet, however there are individuals of all ages in attendance. “I believed it was going to be possibly 20 individuals with a few indicators,” Abby, 24, says, including that she’s pleasantly shocked at each the turnout and the truth that many of the protesters are of retirement age. Abe, 20, tells me that is his first protest. Holding an indication that claims “ICE = GESTAPO,” he tells me he got here out to assist a pal who’s Mexican. Three youngsters stroll by with indicators expressing assist for immigrants: “While Trump destroys America, we constructed it.” “Trump: 3 felonies. My mother and father: 0.”

As I drive away, I discover 9 counter-protesters off to the facet, across the nook from the primary occasion. They wave their very own flags, however the demonstrators seemingly pay them no thoughts.

Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles

Wearing a camo baseball cap — “Desert Storm Veteran” emblazoned on the entrance — Joe Arciaga greets a crowd of about 100 individuals in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown round 9:00AM.

“Good morning everybody, are you prepared for some stunning hassle?” Arciaga says into the megaphone, an American flag bandana wrapped round his wrist. The faces of Filipino labor leaders Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong, who organized farm employees alongside Cesar Chavez, peer over his shoulders from a mural that traces the size of Unidad Park the place Arciaga and a gaggle referred to as Lakas Collective helped manage this neighborhood No Kings rally.

“I’m a Desert Storm veteran, and I’m a father of three and a grandfather of three, and I need to work for a future the place democracy is upheld, due course of, civil rights, the preservation of the rule of legislation — That’s all I would like. I’m not a billionaire, I’m only a common Joe, proper?”, he tells The Verge.

“I’m mad as hell,” he says, after I ask him concerning the Army 250th anniversary parade Donald Trump has organized in Washington, DC coinciding with the president’s birthday. “The man doesn’t need to be honored, he’s a draft dodger, proper?” Arciaga says. He’s “furious” that the President and DOGE have fired veterans working for federal companies and slashed VA employees.

Arciaga organizes the group into two traces that file out of the park to face alongside Beverly Blvd., one of many principal drags by means of LA. Arciaga has deputized a handful of attendees with safety or medical expertise with whistles to function “marshals” tasked with flagging and de-escalating any probably dangerous state of affairs which may come up.

Johneric Concordia, one of many co-founders of the favored The Park’s Finest barbecue joint within the neighborhood, is MCing out on Beverly Blvd. He and Arciaga direct individuals onto the sidewalks and off the asphalt as honking vehicles zip by. In between chants of “No hate! No concern! Immigrants are welcome right here!” and rap songs from LA artist Bambu that Concordia performs from a speaker, Concordia hypes up the organizers. “Who’s cool? Joe’s cool?” He spits into the microphone linked to his speaker. “Who’s streets? Our streets!” the group cheers.

An hour later, a person sitting at a pink gentle in a black Prius rolls down his window. “Go residence!” he yells from the intersection. “Take your Mexican flag and go residence!”

The crowd largely ignores him. One attendee on the nook holds up his “No Kings” signal to the Prius with out turning his head to have a look at him.

A couple of minutes later, a jogger in a blue t-shirt raises his fist as he passes the group. “Fuck yeah guys,” he says to cheers.

By 10AM, the neighborhood occasion is coming to a detailed. Demonstrators begin to trickle away, some fanning out to different rallies deliberate throughout LA immediately. Concordia is heading out too, microphone and speaker nonetheless in hand, “If you’re headed to downtown, be careful for suspicious crew cuts!”

San Francisco, California

London’s protest was slightly completely different than most: it was nearly fully bereft of “No Kings” indicators, because of the truth that about two miles away a lot bigger crowds have been gathered to rejoice the official birthday of 1 King Charles III.

“We don’t have something in opposition to King Charles,” Alyssa, a member of organizers Indivisible London, instructed me. And so, “out of respect for our host nation as immigrants,” they as an alternative arrange store in entrance of the US embassy with a tweaked message: “No kings, no crowns” grew to become “no tyrants, no clowns.”

Of the tons of gathered, not everybody acquired the memo, with a number of painted indicators decrying kings and crowns regardless, and one courageous Brit brandishing a little bit of cardboard with a easy message: “Our king is healthier than yours!”

Still, many of the crowd have been on board, with pink noses, clown fits, and Pennywise masks dotted all through, plus costumes starting from tacos to Roman emperors. “I feel tyrants is the higher phrase, and that’s why I dressed up as Caesar, as a result of he was the unique,” says Anna, a Long Island native who’s lived in London for 3 years. “Nobody likes a tyrant. Nobody. And they don’t do properly, traditionally, however they destroy so much.”

For 90 minutes or so the group — predominantly American, judging by the accents round me — leaned into the circus theme. Speakers shared the stage with performers, from a comic book singalong of anti-Trump protest songs to a protracted pantomime during which a girl in a banana costume exhorted the group to pelt a Donald Trump impersonator with contemporary peels.

During a break in festivities, Alyssa instructed the group, “The most threatening sound to an oligarch is laughter.”

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York

The No Kings protest at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza was a calmer affair. Instead of gathering below the picturesque memorial arch, protesters have been largely sequestered to a nook proper outdoors Prospect Park, with some streets blocked off by police. The weekly farmers market was in full swing, which means individuals cradling bundles of rhubarb have been swerving out and in of protest indicators that learn issues like, “Hating Donald Trump is Brat” and “Is it time to get out the pitch forks?” Like through the Hands Off protest in April, New York acquired rain on Saturday.

The space the place protesters have been gathered made it tough to depend the group, however there have been tons of — maybe a number of thousand — those that streamed out and in. At one level, some protesters started marching down the road alongside Prospect Park, whereas others stayed at Grand Army Plaza to chant, cheer, and maintain indicators up at oncoming automobiles. With its proximity to the general public library, the park, and densely populated neighborhoods, the huge intersection is a high-foot site visitors space. Cars blared their horns as they handed, American flags waving within the chilly afternoon breeze.

Jane, a Brooklyn resident who stood on the curb reverse the protesters, mentioned she isn’t sometimes somebody who comes out to actions like this: earlier than the No Kings occasion, she had solely ever been to at least one protest, the Women’s March. (Jane requested that The Verge use her first identify solely.)

“I’m deeply involved about our nation,” Jane mentioned, pausing as a protracted stream of vehicles and vehicles honked constantly in assist of the protesters within the background.

“I feel Trump is behaving as an authoritarian. We’ve seen in Russia, in Hungary, in Hong Kong, that the slide from freedom to not freedom may be very quick and really fast if individuals don’t make their voices heard,” Jane mentioned. “I’m involved that that’s what’s taking place within the United States.” Jane additionally cited cuts to Medicaid and funding for tutorial analysis in addition to tariffs as being “unacceptable.”

The occasion was peaceable — there have been numerous youngsters current — and other people have been in good spirits regardless of the rain. Protest indicators ran the gamut from common anti-Trump slogans (“I belief gentle tampons greater than this administration”) to New York City-specific causes like “Andrew Cuomo can’t learn” (there’s a contenious mayoral election this month). One signal learn, “Fix your hearts or die,” an iconic line from the late director, David Lynch’s, Twin Peaks: The Return. And after all, amid nationwide immigration raids which were escalated by the involvement of the federal authorities, ICE was prime of thoughts: one signal merely learn, “Melt ICE,” and one other protester held a big “NO ICE IN NYC” signal.

Though it was smaller and extra contained than different occasions, the protest didn’t lack conviction: attendees of all ages stood within the chilly rain, chanting and blowing into vuvuzela, banging the lids of pots and pans. At one level a person stood on the median on the road, main the group in chants of “No justice, no peace.” Cars laid on the horn as they drove by.

It’s been raining fairly exhausting the previous few days in Akron, OH, a lot that I didn’t suppose there’d be a big turnout for our chapter of the No Kings protest. But I used to be emphatically confirmed incorrect because the crowds I noticed dwarfed the Tesla Takedown protests final month. Officially, the protest was to happen in entrance of the John F. Seiberling Federal Building on Main Street in Downtown Akron. But the focus of individuals spilled over from that small house down Main Street and up Market Street. All instructed, although there have been no official counts, I estimate someplace between 500 to 900 individuals on this blue enclave in Northeast Ohio.

The temper was exuberant, buoyed by supporters who honked their horns as they handed. The refrain of horns was nonstop, and when a sanitation truck honked because it glided by, cheers acquired louder. The chants the crowds have been singing took on a neighborhood flare. Ohio is the house of the Ohio State Buckeyes and wherever you go, shout “O-H” and also you’ll invariably get an “I-O” response. The crowds used that conference to make their very own chant, “OH-IO, Donald Trump has acquired to go.”

There was no police presence right here and the group was superb at policing itself. Ostensibly out of concern for the incidents the place individuals have rammed their vehicles into protestor crowds, the individuals right here have taken up crossing guard duties, aiding of us who want to cross Main or Market Streets. Toward the top of my time on the protest, I noticed an older gentleman carrying Kent State gear and holding an indication that learn, “Remember one other time the National Guard was referred to as in?” His signal featured a drawing of the well-known picture from the occasion during which 4 Kent State college students throughout a protest of the Vietnam War have been killed by National Guard troops. I caught up with him to ask him some questions and he instructed me his identify was Chuck Ayers, knowledgeable cartoonist, and was current on the capturing.

“When I noticed the National Guard in entrance of the federal constructing in LA,” he instructed me, “It was simply one other flashback.”

He didn’t inform me this on the time, however Ayers is a nationally acknowledged cartoonist, famous for co-creating the cartoon Crankshaft. He’s lived in Ohio his total life and naturally, drew that signal himself. As he was telling me about how seeing information of the National Guard being deployed in LA, I might see him pressure to carry again his feelings. He mentioned it nonetheless hurts to see this 55 years later, however that he was heartened to see so many individuals standing right here in group and solidarity. He additionally mentioned that given his ache and trauma he nearly didn’t come. When I requested why he confirmed up when it so clearly causes him ache he mentioned merely, “Because I’ve to.”

On a northward drive to Oneonta — inhabitants roughly 15,000, the most important metropolis in New York’s primarily rural Otsego County — one of the crucial outstanding landmarks is a sprawling barn splashed in enormous, painted block letters with TRUMP 2024. (The last digits have been faithfully up to date each election since 2016.) It’s Trump nation, however not uniformly Trumpy nation, as evidenced by what I estimated as a hundreds-strong crowd gathered in a subject slightly below Main Street that got here along with a pleasant county-fair environment. Kids sat on their mother and father’ shoulders; American flags fluttered subsequent to indicators with slogans like SHADE NEVER MADE ANYONE LESS GAY, and attendees grumbled persistently concerning the occasion’s feeble sound system, arrange on the mattress of a pickup truck. It was the type of conspicuously patriotic, far-from-urban protest that the Trump administration has all however insisted doesn’t exist.

Beyond a common condemnation of Trump, protest indicators repped the identical points being denounced throughout the nation. The wars in Gaza and Ukraine made an look, as did Elon Musk and Tesla. A few individuals referred to as out funding cuts for organizations like NPR, one neatly lettered signal reminded us that WEATHER FORECASTING SAVES LIVES, one other warned “Keep your nasty little palms off Social Security,” and so much — unsurprisingly, given the previous week’s occasions — attacked mass deportations and ICE. An attendee who recognized himself as Bill, standing behind a placard that blocked most of him from sight, laid out his anger on the administration’s gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency. “I feel if it was not for protests, there could be no change,” he instructed me.

The occasion itself, supported by a coalition together with the native chapter of Indivisible, highlighted matters like reproductive justice and LGBTQ rights alongside points for teams usually stereotyped as Republican blocs — there was a speech about Department of Veterans Affairs cuts and a consultant from the native Office for the Aging (whose phrases have been largely misplaced to the sound system’s whims). Rules for a march across the modest downtown have been laid out: no blocking pedestrians or automobiles, and for the sake of households doing weekend procuring, watch the language. “Fuck!” one particular person yelled indistinctly from the viewers. “No, no,” the occasion’s emcee chided gently. The philosophy, as she put it, was certainly one of persuasion. “We need to construct the resistance, not make individuals indignant at us.”

But even in a spot that may nearly actually by no means see a National Guard deployment or the ire of a Truth Social publish, the Trump administration’s brutal deportation program had simply hit near residence. Only hours earlier than the protest commenced, ICE brokers have been recorded handcuffing a person and eradicating him in an unmarked black automotive — detaining what was reportedly a authorized resident looking for asylum from Venezuela. The mayor of Oneonta, Mark Drnek, relayed the information to the group. “ICE! We see you!” boomed Drnek from the truckbed. “We acknowledge you for what you’re, and we perceive, and we reject your vile goal.”

The crowd cheered furiously. The stars and stripes waved.