Masses of demonstrators packed into streets, parks and plazas throughout the United States on Saturday (June 14, 2025) to protest President Donald Trump, marching by means of downtowns and small cities, blaring anti-authoritarian chants combined with assist for safeguarding democracy and immigrant rights.
Organizers of the “No Kings” demonstrations mentioned millions had marched in a whole lot of occasions. Governors throughout the U.S. had urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, whereas some mobilized the National Guard forward of marchers gathering.
Confrontations have been remoted. But police in Los Angeles, the place protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted per week earlier and sparked demonstrations throughout the nation, used tear gasoline and crowd-control munitions to filter out protesters after the formal occasion ended. Officers in Portland additionally fired tear gasoline and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in entrance of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement constructing nicely into the night.
Erin Matyjasik cheers on a “No Kings” motor march in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday, June 14, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP
And in Salt Lake City, Utah, police have been investigating a taking pictures throughout a march downtown that left one particular person critically injured. Three individuals have been taken into custody, together with a person believed to be the shooter, who additionally suffered a gunshot wound, in accordance to Police Chief Brian Redd.
Redd mentioned it was too early to inform if the taking pictures was politically motivated and whether or not these concerned knew one another. The shooter appeared to be strolling alongside the group of 1000’s who have been marching, he added. Video feeds confirmed demonstrators operating for security as gunshots rang out.
“Trump must go now”
Huge, boisterous crowds marched, danced, drummed, and chanted shoulder-to-shoulder in New York, Denver, Chicago, Austin and Los Angeles, some behind “no kings” banners. Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity occasion rapidly reached its restrict, with 1000’s extra gathered outdoors obstacles to hear audio system in entrance of the state Capitol. Officials in Seattle estimated that greater than 70,000 individuals attended the town’s largest rally downtown, the Seattle Times reported.
Demonstrators maintain up indicators in entrance of law enforcement officials in the course of the No Kings protest towards U.S. President Donald Trump’s insurance policies, in Austin, Texas, U.S., June 14, 2025.
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Reuters
Trump was in Washington for a army parade marking the Army’s 250th anniversary that coincides with the president’s birthday. About 200 protesters assembled in northwest Washington’s Logan Circle and chanted “Trump must go now” earlier than erupting in cheers. A bigger-than-life puppet of Trump — a caricature of the president sporting a crown and sitting on a golden bathroom — was wheeled by means of the crowd.
In some locations, organizers handed out little American flags whereas others flew their flags the wrong way up, an indication of misery. Mexican flags, which have develop into a fixture of the Los Angeles protests towards immigration raids, additionally made an look at some demonstrations Saturday.
In Culpepper, Virginia, police mentioned one particular person was struck by an SUV when a 21-year-old driver deliberately accelerated his SUV into the crowd as protesters have been leaving a rally. The driver was charged with reckless driving.
Protests over the federal immigration enforcement raids
The demonstrations come on the heels of the protests over the federal immigration enforcement raids that started final week and Trump ordering the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles, the place protesters blocked a freeway and set vehicles on fireplace.
“Today, throughout pink states and blue, rural cities and main cities, Americans stood in peaceable unity and made it clear: we don’t do kings,” the No Kings Coalition said in a statement Saturday afternoon after many events had ended.
A participant attire like Donald Trump to present disagreement throughout a No Kings protest on Saturday, June, 14, 2025, in McAllen., Texas.
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AP
Thousands gathered downtown, the place organizers handed out small American flags and folks carried protest indicators saying “fight oligarchy” and “deport the mini-Mussolinis.”
Karen Van Trieste, a 61-year-old nurse who drove up from Maryland, said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support.
“I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,” she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration’s layoffs of staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of immigrant communities and Trump trying to rule by executive order, she said.
A woman wearing a foam Statue of Liberty crown brought a speaker system and led an anti-Trump sing-along, changing the words “young man” in the song “Y.M.C.A.” to “con man.”
”I am what the successful American dream looks like,” said C.C. Téllez, an immigrant from Bolivia who attended the protest. “I’ve enjoyed great success here in the United States, and I’ve also contributed heavily to my community. And if there was space for me, I think there’s a way for everybody else to belong here as well.”
Thousands gathered in front of City Hall, waving signs and listening to a Native American drum circle before marching through the streets.
As protesters passed National Guard troops or U.S. Marines stationed at various buildings, most interactions were friendly, with demonstrators giving fist bumps or posing for selfies. But others chanted “shame” or “go home” at the troops.
Amid signs reading “They fear us don’t back down California” and “We carry dreams not danger, ” one demonstrator carried a 2-foot-tall (60-centimeter) Trump pinata on a stick, with a crown on his head and sombrero hanging off his back. Another hoisted a huge helium-filled orange baby balloon with blond hair styled like Trump’s.
A few blocks from City Hall, protesters gathered in front of the downtown federal detention center being guarded by a line of Marines and other law enforcement. It was the first time that the Marines, in combat gear and holding rifles, have appeared at a demonstration since they were deployed to city on Friday with the stated mission of defending federal property.
Peter Varadi, 54, said he voted for Mr. Trump last November for “economic reasons.” Now, for the first time in his life, he is protesting, waving a Mexican and U.S. combined flag.
“I voted for Donald Trump, and now I regret that, because he’s taken this fascism to a new level,” Varadi said. “It’s Latinos now. Who’s next? It’s gays. Blacks after that. They’re coming for everybody.”
Even after the formal event ended, the downtown streets were packed with a jubilant crowd as people danced to salsa music and snacked on hot dogs and ice cream bought from vendors, many of whom are Latino immigrants. But the previously calm demonstration turned confrontational as police on horseback moved into the crowd and struck some people with wood rods and batons as they cleared the street in front of the federal building.
Marchers in the crowd that stretched for blocks along Fifth Avenue had diverse reasons for coming, including anger over Trump’s immigration policies, support for the Palestinian people and outrage over what they said was an erosion of free speech rights.
But there were patriotic symbols, too. Leah Griswold, 32, and Amber Laree, 59, who marched in suffragette white dresses, brought 250 American flags to hand out to people in the crowd.
“Our mothers who came out, fought for our rights, and now we’re fighting for future generations as well,” Griswold said.
Some protesters held signs denouncing Trump while others banged drums.
“We’re here because we’re worried about the existential crisis of this country and the planet and our species,” said Sean Kryston, 28.
Gov. Tim Walz and law enforcement encouraged people not to attend rallies “out of an abundance of caution” following the shootings of the Democratic state lawmakers.
Dozens of events were canceled, but tens of thousands still turned out for demonstrations in Duluth, Rochester and St. Paul, which included a march to the state Capitol. Walz canceled his scheduled appearance at the St. Paul event.
Authorities said the suspect had “No Kings” flyers in his car and writings mentioning the names of the victims as well as other lawmakers and officials, though they could not say if he had any other specific targets.
Seda Heng, 29, of Rochester, said she was heartbroken by the shootings, but still wanted to join the rally there. “These people are trying to do what they can for their communities, for the state, for the nation,” Heng told the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
Crowds cheered anti-Trump speakers in Charlotte’s First Ward Park before marching, chanting “No kings. No crowns. We will not bow down.”
Marchers stretched for blocks, led by a gaggle of individuals holding a large Mexican flag and bystanders cheering and clapping alongside the way in which.
People protest Trump’s deployment of the National Guard
Jocelyn Abarca, a 21-year-old school pupil, mentioned the protest was an opportunity to “converse for what’s proper” after mass deportations and Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles.
“If we don’t stop it now, it’s just going to keep getting worse,” she mentioned.
Naomi Mena mentioned she traveled an hour to exhibit in Charlotte to signify her “friends and family who sadly can’t have a voice out in public now” to keep protected.
A rally on the Texas Capitol in Austin went off as deliberate regardless of state police briefly shutting down the constructing and the encompassing grounds after authorities mentioned they obtained a “credible threat” to Democratic state lawmakers who have been to attend.
Dozens of state troopers swarmed by means of the grounds about 4 hours earlier than the occasion, however the space was later opened and the rally began on time. The constructing remained closed.
The Department of Public Safety later mentioned one particular person was taken into custody “in reference to the threats made towards state lawmakers” after a traffic stop in La Grange, Texas, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Austin. State police did not detail the threat or immediately identify the person, but said there was no additional active threat.
A demonstration of hundreds of people opened to “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath playing over a sound system on the state Capitol lawn in Jackson.
“A lot of stuff that’s going on now is targeting people of color, and to see so many folks out here that aren’t black or brown fighting for the same causes that I’m here for, it makes me very emotional,” said Tony Cropper, who traveled from Tennessee to attend the protest.
Some people wore tinfoil crowns atop their heads. Others held signs inviting motorists to “Honk if you never text war plans.”
Melissa Johnson said she drove an hour-and-a-half to Jackson to protest because “we are losing the thread of democracy in our country.”
Earlier within the day, 1000’s of protesters lined the streets in downtown Portland for a number of blocks, waving indicators as passing vehicles honked in assist. They marched across the metropolis draped in American flags to the beat of drums and music.
By late afternoon, a small group of demonstrators amassed throughout the river to protest in entrance of an ICE workplace the place three individuals have been arrested Wednesday evening after beginning a small fireplace towards the constructing, police mentioned.
Federal immigration officers fired tear gasoline, flash bangs and rubber bullets in an effort to filter out the remaining protesters within the night. Some protesters threw water bottles again and tended to one another’s wounds. The police division wrote on X that the occasion was declared a riot.
At least two individuals have been detained and brought contained in the federal immigration constructing.
Published – June 15, 2025 05:09 pm IST
