‘No Kings’ protest update: Thousands of anti-Trump events have been planned across the US on Saturday, as a part of the ‘No Kings’ protests. The demonstrations drew millions of participants, who took the streets carrying placards and chanting slogans. Marches took place in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Minneapolis and other hubs.
More than 3,200 events are planned in all 50 states. Organizers say that over 9 million protestors are expected at these events.
Bruce Springsteen and Joan Baez
Singers Bruce Springsteen and Joan Baez will headline a rally at the state capitol in Minnesota, where upward of 100,000 people are expected to gather in an area that became a flashpoint over Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Other major rallies are taking place in New York, Los Angeles and Washington.
“The defining story of this Saturday’s mobilization is not just how many people are protesting, but where they are protesting,” Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, the group that started the No Kings movement last year and led planning of Saturday’s events.
When and where is the ‘No Kings’ protest near me?
The organizers have published a map on their website, guiding locals to the protest sites. One can simply enter their zip code or address to find details.
“As President Trump escalates his attempts to control us, it is on us, the people, to show that we will fight to protect one another and our country. If he believes we will roll over and allow him to take our freedoms, he is mistaken. We are coming together again on March 28 because we know we can overcome this repression when we unite,” the organizers say on the website.
Midterms in focus
With midterm elections later this year in the US, organizers say they have seen a surge in the number of people organizing anti-Trump events and registering to participate in deeply Republican states like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah.
“Voters who decide elections, the people who do the door-knocking and the voter registration and all of the work of turning protests into power, they are taking to the streets right now, and they are furious,” Greenberg said.
White House reacts
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in a statement dismissed the rallies as ‘Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions’ of interest only to journalists.
In northern Virginia just outside Washington, DC, several hundred people began gathering on Saturday close to Arlington National Cemetery before a planned march across the Potomac River to the capital city’s National Mall.
Some passing drivers honked their horns in support but others slowed down to berate the protesters.
“You’re all idiots,” one man shouted from his car.
Call against Iran war
The No Kings movement launched last year on Trump’s birthday, June 14, drew an estimated 4 to 6 million people across roughly 2,100 sites nationwide. The second mobilization in October involved an estimated 7 million participants in more than 2,700 cities, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G Elliott Morris.
That October event was largely fueled by a backlash against a government shutdown, an aggressive crackdown by federal immigration authorities, and the deployment of National Guard troops to major cities.
Saturday’s events come amid what organizers said was a call to action against the bombardment of Iran by the US and Israel, a conflict that is now four weeks old.
