Saturday, June 14 was marked by a sea of dissenters collectively rallying under a single banner: the No Kings Protests. Despite the inclement weather, nearly a hundred individuals rallied to publicly voice their opposition to the policies implemented by the Trump administration. This display of public resistance was not an unusual scene in Warren, where for several consecutive weeks, citizens had assembled each Saturday to express their escalating discontent.
Simultaneously, over a hundred energized participants gathered in Fredonia, N.Y., displaying placards of protest at a parallel No Kings rally that morning. In a show of overwhelming solidarity, an approximate count of 500 people simultaneously participated in a similar protest in Jamestown, N.Y. The underlying sentiment among these protestors was a common concern that President Trump has been exploiting executive orders to sidestep congress and shape policy unilaterally.
Their worry rests on notions that the Trump administration, particularly the Department of Government Efficiency, may have overstepped their legal boundaries by discontinuing various programs without the prerequisite congressional approval. Records indicate that Trump has authored over 162 executive orders in less than four months of his tenure, a number that starkly contrasts with the two bills and five joint resolutions approved by Congress, which expressed dissent towards rules proposed by different governmental departments.
These figures illustrate a discrepancy when contrasted with the policies enacted under former President Joe Biden. In an equivalent timeframe, Biden saw 16 bills successfully pass through Congress. Furthermore, his entire four-year term in office only culminated in a total of 162 executive orders, a figure eerily equivalent to the executive orders passed by Trump in his short stint in office.
The objections voiced by the protesters extend beyond this perceived power imbalance and into a diverse array of issues. Key concerns include Project 2025, comprehensive immigration reform, and proposed budget cuts to critical social infrastructure programs such as Social Security, medical aid and scientific research.
The No Kings Protests were given a significant boost by the 50501 movement, a group that helped coordinate protests at a national level. Their mission statement emphasizes the role of peaceful protests and community-oriented leadership. It vehemently opposes political violence and authoritarianism and is unwavering in the defense of the democratic principles on which the United States was built upon.
ESays the 50501 movement, ‘We advocate for a government that serves its citizens rather than ruling over them.’ Organizers involved in the orchestration of these ‘No Kings’ demonstrations reported a turnout of millions, with hundreds of simultaneous events unfolding across the nation.
During these public displays of discontent, governors nationwide appealed for peace, reinforcing their zero-tolerance policies for violent behaviors. Some areas went as far as to activate the National Guard as reassurance in anticipation of the incoming hordes of protestors. Most confrontations, if any, occurred sporadically and were isolated incidents.
Unfortunately, in Los Angeles, the scene was a little less peaceful. Just the previous week, protests over federal immigration enforcement raids had begun. Those earlier agitations had sparked a wave of demonstrations nationwide and caused the police to employ tear gas and other crowd-control tactics once the official protest had concluded. The evening’s tension carried on in Portland, where law enforcement resorted to tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd besieging a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building.
Regrettably, in Salt Lake City, Utah, a march turned tragic when an incident resulted in a participant being critically injured. The ensuing police investigation led to the arrest of three individuals, including the alleged shooter, who was also injured by a gunshot. Police Chief Brian Redd remains involved in the ensuing examination.
Despite these isolated incidents, multitudes of spirited protestors marched, danced, and chanted together across the country. From New York to Denver, from Chicago to Austin, and in Los Angeles, participants proudly waved their ‘no kings’ banners. Atlanta’s event was at full capacity with 5,000 participants, with thousands more convening outside the designated area, eagerly listening to the speakers at the State Capitol.
The Seattle event marked another beacon of solidarity, with local authorities estimating that over 70,000 people attended the city’s largest protest downtown. Reporting of the event was carried by several news outlets including the Seattle Times, highlighting the scale of the rally.
From rural towns to metropolitans, from traditionally aligned red states to blue ones, Americans united in peace and made their stance abundantly clear: they would not stand for autocracy. As the No Kings Coalition expressed after many of the events concluded Saturday afternoon, ‘Today, Americans stood in peaceful unity and made it clear: We don’t do kings.’