(
States Newsroom
) — With the nation’s capital hosting multimillion-dollar celebrations and a parade marking the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s birthday Saturday, No Kings demonstrations are underway around the country to protest the president’s executive orders and actions that have left thousands without jobs and diminished government services and support.
In Maine, Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree attended a rally in York, handing out red roses to marchers. “People are angry. They want to know what to do, want to do something. They want to fight back,” she said.
Rain wasn’t enough to keep away the crowds.
The No Kings national organizers said in a press release that as of 2 p.m. ET, protesters had rallied at more than 1,500 sites across the country, with 600 more events scheduled through the rest of the day.
“We’re just really concerned about losing our democracy,” said Rhonda Clair of Hendricks County at the demonstration at the Indiana Capitol.
In South Carolina, Tessa Gonzalez, a pediatrician, attended the demonstration of thousands at the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. Her 8-year-old daughter and potential cuts to Medicaid moved her family to join the rally. The child has a rare genetic mutation and requires a specialized wheelchair.
“My daughter, 100% depends on Medicaid to provide the medicine, equipment — everything that she needs to lead a happy, healthy life,” Gonzalez said. “So it’s essential.”
Protesters in Georgia evoked the name of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. during a rally near the Gold Dome in Atlanta with signs that read, “Our only king is MLK Jr.!!!”
Anna Yousaf, an infectious disease doctor who works with vaccines at the CDC, told the Georgia Recorder she came out to oppose Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who she said is undermining public trust in vaccines to deadly effect.
“Disinformation used to be coming from non-governmental sources,” she said. “Now, RFK Jr. is hijacking political organizations like the CDC, like the FDA, and using our name brand, if you will, to spread disinformation. And so people who would ordinarily go to a CDC resource for trusted information, now they’re going to get disinformation from the health secretary of the United States.”
“If he succeeds in his crusade to undermine vaccine confidence and restrict access, we will see thousands of people die, mostly children,” she added.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen issued a state of emergency and activated the National Guard as a precaution, citing the reaction to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis posted
one message on social media
Saturday, not mentioning the crowd outside his office but rather Army anniversary. “As Americans, we carry the sacred duty to remember, to reflect, and to protect the freedoms that generations of our countrymen have fought to secure.”
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, appeared in Tallahassee and posted
video comments on social media
. “I’m standing on the Old Capitol steps as hundreds and hundreds of Americans are here showing up today to tell Donald Trump, ‘No Kings in America.’ We’re going to fight for our Constitution, fight for our democracy,” she said.
Massive crowds were crossing the Broadway Street bridge in Little Rock, Arkansas, where 15 demonstrations were expected across the state.
“June 14, Flag Day, is when President Donald Trump is holding a military parade in the nation’s capital, wasting tens of millions of taxpayer dollars as a birthday gift to himself while his administration defies checks on his power, undermines our civil rights and tries to strip away essential benefits from veterans, seniors, hungry children and others,” Indivisible NWA, the organizers of the No Kings protest in Fayetteville, Arkansas, said in a press release.
City spokesperson Gracie Ziegler said Fayetteville did not anticipate any major issues and that the protest’s organizers have been very communicative.
“The police department is aware of the plans, and they’ll be present to make sure everybody stays safe and peaceful, which is the goal of the organizers,’’ Ziegler said.
The No Kings protests come as mostly nonviolent demonstrations have been building this week around the country in response to ICE raids and in solidarity with Los Angeles, where Trump sent troops in defiance of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. U.S. Sen.
Alex Padilla
, D-California, was forcibly removed and handcuffed by federal authorities Thursday during Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles.
Saturday’s protests also coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Army. A
military parade
will mark the occasion in D.C., where critics have blasted the parade’s cost and optics as Congress weighs the budget reconciliation package that proposes massive cuts to safety net programs.
Earlier this week, Trump said that protests at the Army parade “will be met with very heavy force.”
The U.S. Capitol Police told States Newsroom that protesters were arrested outside the Capitol late Friday after they pushed down bike rack barriers around the building and began running for the Rotunda steps. Veterans for Peace, a group that organized the demonstration, posted photos of the arrests on social media and of several demonstrators wearing “Veterans Against Fascists” t-shirts. Among those arrested was an elderly Vietnam veteran using a walker, Capitol Police confirmed.
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Niki Kelly of Indiana Capital Chronicle, Ainsley Platt of Arkansas Advocate, Ross Williams of Georgia Recorder, Cassandra Stephenson of Tennessee Lookout, Juan Salinas of Nebraska Examiner, Michael Moline of Florida Phoenix, Jessica Holdman of South Carolina Daily Gazette, Delilah Brumer of Colorado Newsline and Jane Norman of States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau contributed to this report.
