LIVE: 'No Kings' Anti-Trump protest in Austin expected to draw crowds, police presence

Yahoo

12 hours ago

As the city anxiously anticipates the first large-scale protest since Austin's anti-ICE demonstration Monday, which resulted in 13 arrests, organizers have asserted the Saturday protest will be safe, peaceful, and focused on 'fun,' embracing a circus theme.
The 'No Kings' protest in Austin — set to begin at the Texas Capitol at 5 p.m. Saturday — is one of more than 1,800 planned across the country, aimed at garnering significant crowds to oppose what protesters describe as President Donald Trump's authoritarian-like rule. It coincides with Trump's birthday and a military parade in Washington, D.C., which protesters have critiqued as a lavish use of taxpayer dollars.
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Here's what we know about planned protests in Austin and across Texas:
Gov. Greg Abbott, a close ally of Trump, said Thursday that he deployed more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops across the state for expected demonstrations, which Austin leaders have said is unnecessary.
The Texas Department of Public Safety also announced Friday that it will close the Capitol building at 4 p.m. Saturday to 'ensure the safety' of visitors.
Despite the protest occurring at this heated moment, Hands Off Central Texas began planning the protest weeks before the highly tense anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, where Trump called the National Guard and military to intervene before a judge stopped the action, Paul Vonderhaar, treasurer of Hands Off Central Texas, said.
Vonderhaar expects a crowd of 10,000 to 15,000 people, unless rain dampens the size, more than the past protests Hands off Central Texas has hosted this year without incident. He said he has been in contact with local law enforcement, state troopers, and professional de-escalation experts.
More: Internal documents show Texas National Guard scrambling to find trained soldiers for protests
The protests also come as news breaks of the assassination of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz described as an act of "targeted political violence." Another lawmaker and his wife were also injured at their homes by a person impersonating law enforcement.
In an interview before the assassination, Vonderhaar said that in a crowd of the size organizers expect, agitators and conflict are possible, but the city and organizers are prepared to de-escalate and are committed to nonviolence.
'I want to make it 100% clear, this is going to be a safe event,' Vonderhaar said. 'We really want to get a circus atmosphere. We want this to be a fun time. Because we've noticed things have been a little scary out there, but it's hard to be scared when you're looking at a guy juggling three pins.'
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Rachel O'Learly Carmona, executive director of the Women's March, Inc, which is organizing the "Kick Out the Clowns" part of Saturday's "No King" protest, criticized Abbott and Trump's deployment of the National Guard as 'stark political intervention" in an interview with the American-Statesman, and said the Women's March is committed to nonviolence and peaceful demonstration to counter "state violence."
'We've been hearing very clearly from courts about the illegality of the overreach that has happened,' she said, referring to the judge's decision to block Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. 'You don't fight fire with fire. You fight fire with water.'
More: Gov. Abbott deploys 7,000 personnel to anti-ICE protests: Texas lawmakers critical
Both organizers said Saturday's protest is designed to highlight the 'absurdity' in politics today and provide levity through humor, satire, circus-themed acts, and a showcase of community, giving people a productive and lawful channel to advance change.
Vonderhaar recruited performers from an Austin juggling club and clown colleges, he said, and Austin's U.S. Democratic Representatives Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar are also expected to speak. Local performers Brigitte Bandit and ResistDance will also perform, he added.
The Los Angeles Protests and the ICE raids that prompted them have "been a real wake-up call of, wow, people need to get out there," Vonderhaar said.
"But they need to get out there in the right way," he added. 'This is the right event for the moment."
Check back for live updates as the Austin 'No Kings' protest unfolds.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: LIVE: Anti-Trump 'No Kings' protest in Austin will be 'a safe event'