Masses of demonstrators participated in “No Kings” protests in cities across the United States on June 14, rallying against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Organizers of the protests said millions had marched in hundreds of events.
Confrontations were isolated. But police in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted a week earlier and sparked demonstrations across the country, used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the formal event ended.
The protests came days after riots in Los Angeles stemming from demonstrations against federal immigration enforcement operations. Trump, over the objection of Gov. Gavin Newsom, deployed California’s National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city.
The nationwide rallies were held on the same day as a military parade in Washington celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary, which also coincided with Trump’s birthday.
In Culpepper, Virginia, police said one person was struck by an SUV when a 21-year-old driver intentionally accelerated the vehicle into the crowd as protesters were leaving a rally. The driver was charged with reckless driving.
In Philadelphia, people held signs with various slogans such as “Reign Reign Go Away,” “If there’s money for a parade, there’s money for Medicaid,” and “Real Kings Don’t Need Tanks.” Pro-Palestinian flags were also present. In other places, people flew American flags upside down, a sign of distress, and Mexican flags, featured prominently in recent Los Angeles protests, were also flown.
On a stage set at the base of the Philadelphia Art Museum’s iconic “Rocky” steps, speakers, including Maryland’s Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin, Martin Luther King III, and Andrea King Waters, addressed the crowd.
Among the many things about his presidency they criticized, the recent events in Los Angeles were top of mind.
“We gather at a crossroads, one that asks us once again, is this America?” Waters said. “Is this America, when flash bombs fall on peaceful protesters, but not on injustice? Is this America, when the First Amendment is honored in print but punished in practice? Let me be clear, this is not patriotism. This is performance. This is not leadership. This is illusion.”
Protesters met at Philadelphia’s Love Park on a gray, drizzly Saturday afternoon. The air was thick with the smell of marijuana, which is decriminalized in the “City of Brotherly Love.”
After about 15 minutes of anti-Trump chanting—interspersed with shouts of “Free-free Palestine”—the cohort marched to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to hear the scheduled speakers.
“He has crossed the line,” Sherry, a retired Realtor, told The Epoch Times.
“I feel like we’re heading into, we already are into authoritarian rule. And he has got to go.”
Not everyone in the crowd was a local.
Karen Van Trieste, 61, drove up from Maryland. She 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of illegal immigrants, and the president’s executive orders, she said.


Los Angeles
On the other side of the country, thousands of protesters filled the parks and lined the streets outside City Hall in Los Angeles, chanting anti-Trump slogans and denouncing what they called “fascism.”“When fascism happens, we see in the name of purification and safety, see a constricting of rights, and I feel that’s where we are right now,” Jenny Sarpolis told The Epoch Times.
The Los Angeles resident attended the rally to “rage against the regime” with her political activist husband, Noel Rhodes, who was wearing an unflattering Trump costume.
Sarpolis said she is most concerned about pro-abortion issues and the rights of immigrants and the LGBT community.
Laura Kass of San Luis Obispo told The Epoch Times she felt compelled to attend the rally with her husband, Charles, for the sake of their grandchildren’s future.
“I worry especially about my daughter and granddaughter,” she said. “There are women who are going to be left behind if this regime keeps going.”
Last week, protests in other parts of the Los Angeles area against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) turned violent, resulting in physical attacks on law enforcement officers and vehicles, and looting.


Texas
In Dallas, thousands endured the midday heat to demonstrate their dissent against the current administration, producing a similar scene.Azael Alvarez, a Dallas member of El Movimiento and Vecinos Unidos, wore both a Mexican flag and a Palestinian keffiyeh draped around his neck.
Alvarez told The Epoch Times he chose both in order to emphasize the importance of unity across different communities.
He criticized current deportation practices, arguing that they target not just criminals, but also mothers and children.

Oscar Garcia, a Dallas protester who wore a Mexican wrestler mask, questioned why those who crossed over illegally in recent years wouldn’t be removed first.
He told The Epoch Times that long-term illegal immigrants who have made significant contributions to society shouldn’t be the focus of ICE operations, and that they should be given a clear path to citizenship.
Most of those living in the country illegally come to the United States seeking opportunities and work, not to cause problems, he said, adding that he was a U.S. citizen.
“They’ve been here, contributing to the country, paying taxes for more than 20 years,” he said.
Meanwhile, a lone Trump supporter, Matthew Cerralvo, stood on the corner of the protests, near a police perimeter, holding his Trump flag high.
He came out alone to witness the protest firsthand—a decision that, he told The Epoch Times, earned him threats and curses from protesters.
Cerralvo, of Cuban descent, said he wasn’t in favor of illegal immigration because it gives political power to states based on population instead of citizenship. He questioned why people who wanted to be Americans were flying different flags.
“The people here are holding flags of countries they chose to evacuate,” he said. “It’s ironic.”
In Phoenix, thousands gathered at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, located across from the Arizona Statehouse.
“I do not like the president,” one protestor told The Epoch Times. “I’m glad to see everybody step outside and protest. Makes me very happy to see every generation out here.”

The protests were organized by the 50501 Movement, so named for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Thousands have already gathered in cities including Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Before organizers canceled demonstrations in the state, Gov. Tim Walz warned against attending rallies after the lawmakers were shot.
Safety Concerns
Ahead of the protests, though, many Philadelphians seemed unconcerned, if not unaware, of what was about to take place.One woman, who declined to be interviewed, told The Epoch Times that she wasn’t sure exactly what the protest was about.
When she learned that it had been organized against Trump holding a parade on his birthday, she rolled her eyes and said, “See, this is why I don’t get involved in this tomfoolery.”
Not all residents were unaware. Roland, a 64-year-old native of Guyana who has lived in the city for the last 34 years, told The Epoch Times that he would be staying home on June 14.
Roland, a naturalized U.S. citizen, witnessed the 2020 riots that followed the death of George Floyd.
“A lot of businesses were broken up,” he said.
He also noted that a friend, who drove for Uber at that time, received a ride request while the rioting was taking place.
When the friend arrived at the pick-up spot, he found that his passenger was actively looting a local business and had used the rideshare app to request a getaway driver.
Jorge Gonzalez, a restaurant worker, was also present during the unrest in 2020; this time, he was not taking any chances, he said.
The night before the protest, he was boarding up the windows outside his establishment.
Gonzalez said in 2020, restaurants a block away had their windows smashed, as looters swarmed the buildings and stole the alcohol from the bars.

On June 13, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, was one of several governors to warn the public that there would be consequences if the rally turned violent.
In Florida, police had to divert protesters from marching onto Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Demonstrators in Charlotte were seen trying to break through a police barricade while chanting “Let us walk.”
In northern Atlanta, law enforcement deployed tear gas to divert hundreds of protesters from heading towards Interstate 285.