By Brad Brooks
(Reuters) -Protesters spanning all age groups, many with children and pets in tow, took to the streets en masse for "No Kings" rallies across the United States on Saturday, denouncing what they view as authoritarian tendencies and unbridled corruption of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Organizers expected millions of people to turn out by day's end at more than 2,600 planned rallies in major cities, small towns and suburbs, challenging a Trump-led agenda that has reshaped the government and upended democratic norms with unprecedented speed since he took office in January.
By all accounts, the demonstrations were largely festive, many featuring inflatable characters and marchers dressed in red, white and blue. The demographically mixed crowds included many parents pushing youngsters in strollers alongside elderly participants.
Little, if any, lawlessness was reported.
“There is nothing more American than saying, 'We don’t have kings’ and exercising our right to peacefully protest,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive organization that led planning of Saturday's events.
The New York Police Department said more than 100,000 people protested peacefully across all five boroughs and that the NYPD "made zero protest-related arrests." Events in Boston, Chicago and Atlanta also drew crowds.
The protests reflected growing unease among many Americans, mainly on the ideological left, with developments such as the criminal prosecution of Trump's perceived political enemies, his militarized immigration crackdown and the sending of National Guard troops into U.S. cities — a move Trump has said was aimed at fighting crime and protecting immigration agents.
As his administration has tried to rapidly implement its policies, Trump has installed inexperienced loyalists throughout the ranks of his administration and sought to apply pressure on the news media, law firms and higher education.
The rallies were boisterous but orderly, with police largely keeping a low profile.
In Washington, demonstrators filled the street as they marched toward the U.S. Capitol, chanting and carrying signs, U.S. flags and balloons. Many people — and their dogs — wore costumes in a relaxed, carnival-like atmosphere.
Protester Aliston Elliot, wearing a Statue of Liberty headpiece and holding a "No Wannabe Dictators" sign, said: "We want to show our support for democracy and for fighting (for) what is right. I'm against the overreach of power."
In downtown Houston, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Aboyte Gamez, 30, joined a crowd that officials said numbered about 5,000 at city hall on Saturday afternoon.
"I don't understand what's going on in this nation right now," said Gamez, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Kevin Brice, 70, a military veteran among thousands of protesters streaming into the riverfront area of Portland, Oregon, wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan "No Kings since 1776."
“Everything that I thought that I stood for while I was serving in the military seems to be at risk," Brice said. "So even though I’m a lifelong Republican, I don’t support the direction the party is going.”
Steve Klopp, 74, a Houston-based oil industry retiree, expressed similar sentiments as he wore a shirt with the words "Former Republican" on it.
"I've been a Republican forever," Klopp said. "My family's been Republican forever and ever. And the idea that one individual could have turned me away from the Republican Party is insane."
Kelly Kinsella, 38, standing among several thousand people gathered outside the Colorado statehouse in Denver, was dressed as the Statue of Liberty, with bloody tears dripping down her face, and carried a "No Kings" sign.
“Everyone comes to work stressed, and it's because of the current conditions," said Kinsella, who said she was motivated to turn out largely because of renewed inflation that she blamed on Trump's tariff policies.
TRUMP SAYS HE IS NOT A KING
Trump has said little about Saturday’s protests. But in an interview with Fox Business aired on Friday he said that “they’re referring to me as a king -- I’m not a king.”
More than 300 grassroots groups helped organize Saturday’s marches, Greenberg said. The American Civil Liberties Union said it provided legal guidance and "de-escalation" training to tens of thousands of people to act as marshals at the various marches.
While the Democratic Party has coped with internal divisions over the best way to oppose Trump, party establishment figures such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and progressive firebrands like U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both voiced their support for the "No Kings" movement.
Saturday's protests were aimed at building on grassroots momentum gained by organizers of some 2,000-plus "No Kings" protests that were staged on June 14, coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday and a rare military parade in Washington.
REPUBLICANS CLAIM PROTESTS ARE ANTI-AMERICAN
House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, on Friday echoed a common refrain among his party, labeling the "No Kings" protests "the hate America rally."
Other Republicans have accused organizers of the rallies of stoking an atmosphere that might spur more political violence, especially in the wake of the September assassination of right-wing activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.
Dana Fisher, a professor at American University in Washington and author of several books on American activism, forecast that Saturday could see the largest protest turnout in modern U.S. history.
She expected that over 3 million people would take part based on registrations and participation in the June events.
Overall turnout for the June 14 "No Kings" rallies was estimated at 4 million to 6 million, according to a crowd-sourcing analysis published by the prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris on his Strength in Numbers blog site.
Fisher said the protests were “not going to change Trump’s policies. But it might embolden elected officials at all levels who are in opposition to Trump.”
(Reporting by Brad Brooks, AJ Vicens and David Shephardson; editing by Marguerita Choy, Cynthia Osterman, Nick Zieminski and Diane Craft)
