Protesters from Montgomery, Mobile, and Tuscaloosa joined marchers in cities across the U.S. to voice their opposition to Donald Trump. Organizers of Saturday's "No Kings" demonstrations said millions marched in hundreds of events. Huge, boisterous crowds marched in Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles. Atlanta's 5,000-capacity rally quickly reached its limit in front of the state Capitol. An estimated four hundred protesters carried signs and chanted in front of the Richard Shelby Federal Courthouse in Tuscaloosa.
Hand written signs in Tuscaloosa carried slogans like “Not my Emperor,” “Hands off cancer research,” “Families Belong Together—abolish ICE,” “Seek Justice, Love Mercy,” and “Y’all know it’s bad when a pregnant lady is out here protesting,” Adam Rotenberry of West Blocton, who goes by the TikTok nomicker “Incrediberry,” was asked to address the crowd. He quoted Hemingway who said "Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another." Later, Rotenberry decried the actions of some in America, including the fatal shooting of a state lawmaker in Minnesota.
“It's not patriotic,” he said. “These folks claim to be Christian. This is the most unChristian stuff I've ever seen. It's the most unpatriotic stuff I've ever seen. How can we be a nation built on these things, and then we do the opposite of these things?”
In Minnesota, organizers canceled demonstrations as police tracked a suspect in the shootings of two legislators and their spouses there. Trump was in Washington for a military parade marking the Army's 250th anniversary. Governors across the U.S. urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard.
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. Officers in Portland also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening. In Tuscaloosa, apparent supporters of Trump honked the horns of their trucks.
“Christian faith is incompatible with the Maga movement,” said Jill Silenberg of Tuscaloosa, of the slogan on her protest sign. “And, I fear for our country, and I don't think that wise decisions are being made about, you know, the foreign affairs, and I just see our country crumbling before us. My father in law fought in World War Two. I don't want my sons to have to do the same thing.”
And in Salt Lake City, Utah, police were investigating a shooting during a march downtown that left one person critically injured. Three people were taken into custody, including a man believed to be the shooter, who also suffered a gunshot wound, according to Police Chief Brian Redd. Redd said it was too early to tell if the shooting was politically motivated and whether those involved knew each other. The shooter appeared to be walking alongside the group of thousands who were marching, he added. Video feeds showed demonstrators running for safety as gunshots rang out.
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 event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state Capitol. Officials in Seattle estimated that more than 70,000 people attended the city's largest rally downtown, the Seattle Times reported.
Trump was in Washington for a military 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" before erupting in cheers. A larger-than-life puppet of Trump — a caricature of the president wearing a crown and sitting on a golden toilet — was wheeled through the crowd.
