National “No Kings” Day organizers say the number of expected June 14 protests have “skyrocketed” since President Donald Trump sent Marines to Los Angeles on June 9. They expect millions of Americans to turn out across the country.
“I think we will see the largest peaceful single day protests that this country has seen, certainly since the first Trump term,” said Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin, one of the organizers.
The roughly 2,000 protests and rallies, named “No Kings” Day to oppose what they see as Trump’s power grab, is nearly double that of the April 5 “Hands Off” protest that saw millions of Americans turn out in big and small cities nationwide. The protests occur the same day as a parade to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., which also falls on Trump’s 79th birthday.
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“Mobilizing military forces into American cities is going to be seen as an overreach, and it's going to be now met with a wave of peaceful, boisterous moms and dads and grandmas and kids and their dogs and families showing up, saying, ‘we’re not going to put up with this authoritarianism,’” Levin said.
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The presence of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Texas, and possibly other states is an effort to “sow chaos” and scare people out of showing up to peacefully protest, Levin said.
“It’s really important for those of us who are organizing to make these events as welcoming as possible and create a sense of strength in numbers. The more people who show up, the harder it is for them to scare us away,” Levin said.
The national organizers are holding several extra safety and de-escalation trainings for local activists and volunteers this week.
“We have no reason to believe these will be anything but peaceful,” he said, pointing out that there were no reported incidents of violence or property destruction during the 1,300 protests in April. “These should be family friendly events. I expect to see people’s dogs and their families and their kids out with funny signs and dancing and having a good time.”
Read the rest at the Courier-Journal.
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