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

WASHINGTON - Protesters spanning all age groups, many with children and pets in tow, took to the streets en masse for “No Kings” rallies across the United States on Oct 18, denouncing what they view as authoritarian tendencies and unbridled corruption of US President Donald Trump.

Organisers expected

millions of people to turn out by day’s end

at more than 2,600 planned rallies in major cities, small towns and some foreign capitals, challenging a Trump-led agenda that has reshaped the government and upended democratic norms with unprecedented speed since he took office in January.

By all accounts, the demonstrations were largely festive, many featuring inflatable characters and marchers dressed in red, white and blue. The demographically mixed crowds included many parents pushing youngsters in strollers alongside elderly participants.

Little, if any, lawlessness was reported.

“There is nothing more American than saying, ‘We don’t have kings’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Ms Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organisation that led planning of Oct 18’s events.

Demonstrators filled Times Square in New York City, where police said they made “zero protest-related arrests” even as more than 100,000 people rallied peacefully across all five boroughs.

Events in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, Chicago and Seattle also drew crowds that each appeared to encompass thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people.

On the West Coast, more than a dozen rallies occurred around the Los Angeles area, including the primary site downtown. In Seattle, demonstrators filled a parade route that stretched for more than a mile from downtown through the Seattle Center plaza around the city’s landmark Space Needle. More than 25,000 protested peacefully in San Diego, police said.

The protests reflect growing unease among many Americans, mainly on the left of the political spectrum, to developments such as the criminal prosecution of Mr Trump’s perceived political enemies, his militarised immigration crackdown and the sending of National Guard troops into US cities – a move Mr Trump has said was aimed at fighting crime and protecting immigration agents.

As his administration has tried to rapidly implement its policies, Mr Trump has installed inexperienced loyalists across the ranks of his administration and sought to apply pressure on the news media, law firms and higher education.

The rallies were boisterous but orderly, with police largely keeping a low profile.

In Washington, demonstrators filled the street as they marched towards the US Capitol, chanting and carrying signs, US flags and balloons.

Many people – and their dogs – wore costumes in a peaceful, carnival-style atmosphere. Four marchers dressed in prison stripes and large caricature heads of Mr Trump and other officials displayed a sign saying “Impeach Trump Again”.

Protester Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headpiece and holding a “No Wannabe Dictators” sign, said: “We want to show our support for democracy and for fighting (for) what is right. I’m against the overreach of power.”

In downtown Houston, US Marine Corps veteran Daniel Aboyte Gamez, 30, joined a crowd that officials said numbered at least 1,500.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in this nation right now,” said Mr Gamez, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. “As a Marine Corps vet, I understand that the United States was founded upon action against tyrants, against kings.”

Mr Kevin Brice, 70, a military veteran among thousands of protesters streaming into the riverfront area of Portland, Oregon, wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan “No Kings since 1776”.

“Everything that I thought that I stood for while I was serving in the military seems to be at risk,” Mr Brice said. “So even though I’m a lifelong Republican, I don’t support the direction the party is going.”

Mr Steve Klopp, 74, a Houston-based oil industry retiree, expressed similar sentiments as he wore a shirt with the words “Former Republican” on it.

“I’ve been a Republican forever,” Mr Klopp said. “My family’s been Republican forever and ever. And the idea that one individual could have turned me away from the Republican Party is insane.”

Ms Kelly Kinsella, 38, standing among several thousand people gathered outside the Colorado statehouse in Denver, was dressed as the Statue of Liberty, with bloody tears dripping down her face, and carried a “No Kings” sign.

“Everyone comes to work stressed, and it’s because of the current conditions,” said Ms Kinsella, who said she was motivated to turn out largely because of renewed inflation that she blamed on Mr Trump’s tariff policies.

Trump says he is not a king

Mr Trump has said little about Oct 18’s protests. But in an interview with Fox Business aired on Oct 17 he said that “they’re referring to me as a king – I’m not a king”.

More than 300 grassroots groups helped organise Oct 18’s marches, Mr Greenberg said.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it has given legal training to tens of thousands of people who will act as marshals at the various marches, and those people were also trained in de-escalation.

While the Democratic Party has coped with internal divisions over the best way to oppose Mr Trump, party establishment figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive firebrands like US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both voiced their support for the “No Kings” movement.

The Oct 18 protests were aimed at building on grassroots momentum gained by organisers of some 2,000-plus “No Kings” protests that were staged on June 14, coinciding with Mr Trump’s 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.

Republicans claim protests are anti-American

House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Oct 17 echoed a common refrain among his party, labelling the “No Kings” protests “the hate America rally”.

Other Republicans have accused organisers of the rallies of stoking an atmosphere that might spur more political violence, especially in the wake of the

September assassination of right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk

.

Vice-President J.D. Vance, speaking on Oct 18 to a gathering of Marines at Camp Pendleton in Southern California, made no mention of the protests. But he criticised Democrats over the government shutdown that began early October in a partisan standoff over federal appropriations.

Professor Dana Fisher from American University in Washington, an author of several books on American activism, forecast that Oct 18 could see the largest protest turnout in modern US history. She expected that over three million people would take part based on registrations and participation in the June events.

Overall turnout for the June 14 “No Kings” rallies was estimated at four million to six million, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by the prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris on his Strength in Numbers blog site.

Prof Fisher said the protests were “not going to change Mr Trump’s policies. But it might embolden elected officials at all levels who are in opposition to Trump”.

The first of Oct 18’s rallies unfolded overseas, with hundreds of protesters assembled at the US Embassy in London, and more demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona. REUTERS