Planned ‘No Kings' protests grow in number after LA militarization: What organizers expect

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"No Kings" Day organizers say it is more important than ever to have a "national day of peaceful protest" on June 14 following the decision by President Donald Trump to send in Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles.
"I think we will see the largest peaceful single day protests that this country has seen certainly since the first Trump term," said Indivisible cofounder Ezra Levin, one of the organizers.
Now, about 2,000 protests and rallies named "No Kings" Day are planned to oppose what they see as Trump's power grab, nearly double that of the April 5 "Hands Off" protest that saw millions of Americans turn out in big and small cities nationwide. Organizers expect millions of Americans to turn out across the country on June 14.
The protests occur the same day as a parade to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C., which also falls on Trump's 79th birthday.
The "No Kings" Day protests were planned long before Trump called in the California National Guard to quell largely peaceful protests over immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles. On June 9, he ordered 700 Marines to the city to help.
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Still, there have been pockets of high-profile clashes with police in Los Angeles, leading California Gov. Gavin Newsom to bring in extra state resources and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to impose a curfew. Hundreds of people have been arrested, mostly for violating the curfew.
Protests have since spread across the country, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has deployed the Texas National Guard to immigration enforcement protests there.
"Mobilizing military forces into American cities is going to be seen as an overreach, and it's going to be now met with a wave of peaceful, boisterous moms and dads and grandmas and kids and their dogs and families showing up, saying, 'we're not going to put up with this authoritarianism,'" Levin said.
On June 11, the White House said Trump is fine with peaceful protests during the military parade, walking back comments Trump made the day before that any protesters would be met with "very big force." That same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that more national guard units could be deployed.
Levin said the presence of the National Guard has changed nothing on their end. There is no planned "No Kings" Day protest in Washington, D.C.
"Our current plan is full steam ahead," he said. "It's more important than ever that we have a national day of peaceful protest in response to would be monarchical rule. And the worst thing we could do this in this moment is back down in response to saber rattling from Trump and others."
Organizers anticipate that the immigration enforcement and Trump's response to largely peaceful protests by bringing in the military is a pivot point that will bring new people to the streets June 14.
"It's part of the national conversation now," Levin said. "And when this kind of thing becomes part of the national conversation, a lot of people who weren't paying attention before lift their head up and say, 'oh my gosh, that's terrible. What do I do?' And there's a very clear answer, it's show up on Saturday in a peaceful protest in a town near you."
Progressive groups often talk about building on pivot points that draw people into protests or activism for the first time.
For example, fear and anger over tariffs that were announced April 2 led to larger than expected crowds at the April 5 Hands Off protests. Mass layoffs of federal probationary workers in February led to large numbers of people at townhalls held by Republican members of Congress.
The presence of the National Guard in Los Angeles, Texas and possibly other states is an effort to "sow chaos" and scare people out of showing up to peacefully protest, Levin said.
"It's really important for those of us who are organizing to make these events as welcoming as possible and create a sense of strength in numbers. The more people who show up, the harder it is for them to scare us away," Levin said.
The national organizers are holding several extra safety and de-escalation trainings for local activists and volunteers this week.
"We have no reason to believe these will be anything but peaceful," he said, pointing out that there were no reported incidents of violence or property destruction during the 1,300 protests in April. "These should be family friendly events. I expect to see people's dogs and their families and their kids out with funny signs and dancing and having a good time."
On June 14, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets of Los Angeles for the "No Kings" protest. Organizers estimate 250,000 people will come, far above the estimated 70,000 who came to the last major protest in early April.
"It is definitely a city that knows how to protest. I would say for a lot of people, it's a sense of duty. We have a duty to our community… to our neighbors, and to democracy and freedom at its most basic level. If we don't all stand up together now, we're going to be crushed separately," said Hunter Dunn, spokesperson for the group organizing the protest.
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Dunn, whose group is called 50501 for 50 states, 50 capitols, one day, said they didn't seek a permit for the protest, which begins with a rally outside Los Angeles city hall and culminates in a mile long march, in part because they didn't want to inform LAPD or potentially ICE and the National Guard of their plans.
He said his group's leadership has been tear gassed and hit with rubber bullets in recent days while providing food, water and medical services at the protest site in central Los Angeles.
50501 has a large team of volunteers on hand to de-escalate and be on the front line if law enforcement tries to break up the protest, he said.
"We have a medical team and we have a security team who's specifically there to de-escalate and prevent bad actors from making things worse, and those are the people who are putting their bodies on the line if the government starts using tear gas or rubber bullets like they've been using against unorganized protests this week," Dunn said.
Dunn encouraged people in the country illegally to stay home.
"If someone is in danger of being targeted by the government directly, I would rather them stay home and instead ask five neighbors to go out and protest in their stead," he said.
Still, he said there are a lot of people "who are for the first time realizing how serious the situation is and how important is to stand up for everyone's rights now so we don't lose them."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'No Kings' protest in LA: What organizers expect