WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators came out in Washington, DC and cities across the country on Saturday to protest what they say are increasingly authoritarian actions by the Trump administration.
“We're here representing normal people – ordinary, peaceful Americans – who are against what this administration is doing, against the occupation of our cities and the removal of our neighbors from the streets,” says Jermaine Collins, a 34-year-old Afghanistan war veteran, speaking before Rolling Stone next to a city dump truck set up to block road access near the National Gallery of Art.
The rally is more than a marchNo kingsThe protest centered on a stage set up on Pennsylvania Avenue, with the U.S. Capitol in the background. by deployment National Guard to major cities under federal authority.
In Washington, squads of roving guardsmen wearing MultiCam uniforms and body armor, armed with M17 pistols and M4 rifles, have become banal spectaclebut on Saturday the law enforcement presence was relatively small and relaxed. A squad of Metropolitan Police Department bicycle cops — on standby as a first-response force, their typical role if a protest turns violent — lounged in the shade of the art gallery's east wing, mostly dozing as protesters gathered nearby in the hot autumn sun. There was no sign of a National Guard presence near the protest, and it appears that over the weekend a decision was made to minimize their presence in the areas surrounding Capitol Hill.
Still, stationing soldiers in American cities was high on the list of concerns for many who attended the protest.
“This is terrible,” says one 68-year-old D.C. resident, holding a “Freedom of the Press” sign. He gathered with a handful of friends under the shade of a tree in Union Square to listen to speeches broadcast from a nearby stage. “We have friends who are involved in this [the D.C. National Guard]. It's a waste of time and resources.”
The retiree and three of his friends, all of whom asked not to be identified for fear of potential retaliation from the US government, spoke to this reporter in detail about what they see as the breakdown of business as usual in the US. Calling themselves political moderates, they say they are not optimistic that the Trump administration's “vindictive lawlessness” – as one described it – can be easily defeated, especially in the current emotionally charged and divisive partisan political environment.
Still, they are hopeful that resistance to the administration will show up in votes against Republicans at the ballot box during next year's midterm elections, despite what some have called a “pathetic” performance by the Democratic Party.
The reason Trump was re-elected is because “underneath the flashy rhetoric are real problems that need to be solved,” says the 68-year-old. Democrats need to acknowledge this reality, he adds, but it is also vital to convince voters to reject the MAGA movement and its excesses. “I have to hope that events like today will help make gains among the independent candidates who voted for Trump in the last election.”
Others see protests as “No Kings” as the beginning of a broader movement of national resistance.
“I will keep it very simple. This administration is leading the United States down a path of authoritarianism,” says Ethan Wilson, a 42-year-old Iraq War veteran who, along with Collins, represented a progressive veterans nonprofit called Defense Common.
“Courts are important. Elections are important. But it probably won't be enough to save us,” Wilson said. “What we need is a major nonviolent civil resistance movement in the United States that can create leverage that can be used against the administration and its supporters, especially the top elites in American society who either actively support or agree with the administration.”
The purpose of this, Wilson says, is to put pressure on elites and institutions to withdraw their support for what he calls the “emerging regime.”
“Again: nonviolently,” he adds.
Indeed, no signs of violence on the part of witnesses were found. Rolling Stone at the “No Kings” protest in Washington. This reporter observed a lone man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and Donald Trump Shirt walked unhindered through the crowd of protesters, defiantly looking on as the people around him largely ignored his demise.
That didn't surprise Collins, an Afghan veteran. “There's a bunch of regular people here protesting. It's not like you saw on Fox News and all that stuff. Like, look around you. There's not a bunch – they're making us out to be 'terrorists,'” he says. “So it's kind of crazy. Naturally, it's crazy.”
The event in Washington was one of more than 2,700 similar protests across the country, organizers said. The administration and its allies have wavered between downplaying and ignoring the protests and portraying them as a serious threat to national security.
On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he wants to pass legislation allowing the Justice Department to prosecute donors and organizers of the No Kings movement under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
“Follow the money. Cut off the money” Cruz told Fox News. “You look at this No Kings rally—there is compelling evidence that George Soros and his network are behind the funding of these rallies, which could very well turn into riots.”
“It's an authoritarian scenario,” says Brandon Wolf, national spokesman for the nonprofit LGBTQ Rights Campaign, one of the organizers of the No Kings rally. “They rely not only on division and chaos, but also on intimidation – because they are a minority in this country. Not only is Donald Trump deeply unpopular, but the vast majority of people in this country do not support dictatorship. They do not support tyranny.”
“We won't have a country if we don't have the First Amendment, and people absolutely should exercise their freedom to peaceably assemble and petition their government,” Wolf says. “No matter what bluster comes from the White House or its supporters, this is fundamentally American freedom.”
However, Cruz's threats are part of a broader pattern in which the Trump administration has shown a willingness to target protesters. In September the President signed decree who called the leaderless anti-fascist collective movement known as Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization.”
On Thursday, federal prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment against members of an alleged Antifa cell on charges of providing “material support for terrorism” related to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement incident.ICE) facility in Alvarado, Texas on July 4th. In that incident, a group of individuals dressed in black raided an ICE facility, setting off fireworks and vandalizing property, according to the US government, in an attack that amounted to an “ambush” and “attempted assassination of federal officers.”
This is believed to be the first time terrorism charges have been brought against alleged followers of the anti-fascist movement. Protests against ICE employees and facilities, as well as alleged rampant crime, have formed the basis for a series of unprecedented enforcement actions taken by the Trump administration, including the deployment of military forces in Los Angeles, the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and the planned deployment of federal National Guard members to Chicago.
A temporary restraining order blocking that deployment was upheld by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, which in its ruling specifically marked that “Political opposition is not rebellion,” arguing that the evidence does not support the president’s idea of federalizing the troops, despite the objections of local officials.
“A protest does not become an insurrection simply because the protesters advocate for multiple legal or political changes, are well organized, call for significant changes in the structure of the U.S. government, use civil disobedience as a form of protest, or are exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms as the law currently allows,” the court wrote, adding: “A protest does not become an insurrection simply because of sporadic and isolated incidents of illegal activity or even violence committed by illegal protesters.”
Returning to the protest in Washington on Saturday, there were certainly no signs of open insurrection. But there were many carefully crafted outrages.
“I'm an immigrant. I wasn't born in this country. That means I have the love for this country that immigrants have. In some ways, it's a different type of love because you realize what your life could be like if you didn't have this opportunity,” says Nancy, a 57-year-old lawyer from Maryland who, like many people with whom Rolling Stone spoke – asked not to use her full name. “I've been here all my life. My father was American, my mother was from South America. I think this country is really important and I think it's worth fighting for.”
“I am a lawyer and believe in the rule of law,” she adds. “The rule of law is what defines free people. And that's why I'm very, very concerned about the abrogation of the rule of law – and how easily it happens. How almost without thinking, we become desensitized to any violations that occur.”
For the most part, the large-scale protest had the atmosphere of a bloc party, filled with active supporters of many obvious ideas. Regardless of anyone's motives or politics, organizers say the most important thing anyone can do to defend the rights they believe are under threat is to simply show up.
“No matter what lengths this administration is willing to go to suppress dissent in this country, we still have a responsibility to step up and protect our most fundamental freedoms,” Wolf says. “You can't tell what this administration is going to do on a day-to-day basis. They've already shown a willingness to back down when faced with enormous public pressure. It's often bluster, and there's not much bite behind the bark. And sometimes there is.”
“But I will simply say that throughout American history and around the world, courageous people have risen up in the face of heartbreaking circumstances and defended freedom, and they were on the right side of history when it was written,” Wolf adds.
