Nearly 7 million people took to the streets in more than 2,500 “No Kings” rallies across the United States on Saturday, protesting what organizers call Trump’s authoritarian agenda.
The mobilizations, which spread from big cities to small towns in red and blue states, included retirees, activists and ordinary citizens, OK with a report of cnn.
At least in New York, more than 100,000 people gathered, while small groups blocked avenues and occupied municipal squares.
The largely peaceful protests responded to a summer marked by mass immigration raids, demonstrations against federal policies and the sending of troops to Democratic cities.
“It seems to me that Trump is taking our government, our democracy, and dismantling it piece by piece, slowly but surely, if we sit back and do nothing about it,” Peggy Cole, a 70-year-old retiree, told the network after traveling almost 10 hours to Washington.
“Frightening moment” for democracy
For Cole, this is a “terrifying moment” for American democracy.
Organizers, led by the Indivisible Project — a progressive grassroots organization with a national office and thousands of chapters in cities and towns across the country, which emerged when Trump won in 2016 — emphasized a commitment to “nonviolent action,” training tens of thousands in security and de-escalation techniques in the face of rising political violence.
Many wore yellow, a symbol of unity inspired by global resistance movements.
“Yellow is a bright, unmistakable reminder that millions of us are united in the belief that America belongs to its people, not kings,” a flyer on the “No Kings” website states.
Although isolated, some incidents marred the day, he says cnn. In South Carolina, a woman was arrested for displaying a gun near protesters, and in Georgia, a man assaulted two people by taking a flag from them.
The Trump administration and Republicans have described the protests as the work of “violent left-wing radicals,” although the data confirms their largely peaceful nature.
“It’s very difficult to call something a war zone when what you see is a block party and people in Halloween costumes,” said one Los Angeles protester while dancing dressed as a unicorn. Others wore inflatable chicken, dinosaur or frog costumes.
