No Kings Day: Tens of thousands pack Bay Area streets and parks to defy Trump

San Francisco Chronicle​

18 hours ago

Tens of thousands of protesters crowded streets and parks in dozens of Bay Area cities Saturday to voice opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration as part of nationwide No Kings rallies.
The protests, potentially the largest in U.S. history, included calls for action at Civic Center and a human banner at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, impassioned speeches by political leaders in Oakland, and a 7-mile human chain between Tesla showrooms in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale, as well as scores of protests, summits and teach-ins in other Bay Area cities.
No Kings Day marked Trump's 79th birthday and stood in contrast to Saturday's military parade through Washington, D.C., for the anniversary of the U.S. Army, protest organizers said.
'We just chose the same date to show the world a counter image,' said Liliana Soroceanu, an organizer with Indivisible SF.
The demonstrations came after uproar over Trump's ordering of the National Guard and Marines into Los Angeles to 'liberate' the city from what he labeled as 'animals' in a speech in Fort Bragg, N.C..
Demonstrators have gathered in Los Angeles for more than a week of protests over raids and detentions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. In San Francisco, a protest against the National Guard's deployment led to the arrest of 150 demonstrators.
The San Francisco protesters assembled in Dolores Park long before the start of the march Saturday, then headed north on Dolores Street and down Market Street.
Eric Kingsbury, a leader of the San Francisco Democratic Party, held a sign containing Uncle Sam's likeness as he marched to Civic Center, encouraging people to stop 'the Nazis in Washington.'
'It is not just our right, but our responsibility as citizens of a democracy to stand up when we see our democracy crumbling before our eyes,' Kingsbury said. 'The only way that we can stand up against Donald Trump right now, when Democrats are in the minority at the national level, is to show that we have the people behind us.'
Tanisha Humphrey, an organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, told the Civic Center crowd that protesting is a 'core tenet' of American freedom.
Humphrey led demonstrators in a 'know your rights' training from the stage, including telling protesters to protect their data and lock their phones.
'Stay calm. Don't run. Comply,' Humphrey advised the crowd on dealing with police.
Humphrey told protesters that police can lie and intimidate people, but 'there is power in your silence.'
'These are scary times,' Humphrey said. 'Protect yourself. Look out for each other.'
Oscar Arbulu, a Marine Corps veteran with the activist group Common Defense, called out 'that federal gang called ICE' for detaining and deporting veterans.
Arbulu, the child of immigrants, condemned Trump's deployment of Marines to Los Angeles ICE protests.
'He dishonors our service,' Arbulu told the crowd. 'Using Marines against peaceful protesters betrays our oath and history.'
Arbulu said Common Defense organizes progressive veterans and called on the crowd to 'take back the American flag and let it be a symbol for everybody.'
After the rally, a group of activists assembled on Grove Street and vowed to continue resisting Trump's hard-line agenda on immigration and other policies.
'We gotta do this every day. Everywhere we go, everyone we talk to,' a speaker told the crowd through a microphone.
A few minutes later, Conny Commers, 52, of San Jose reiterated the point while bemoaning how many members of Generation X had voted for Trump.
'We refuse to accept a fascist America,' Commers told the crowd.
Saturday's San Francisco march followed a 7 a.m. protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office South of Market and a Refuse Fascism rally at 10 a.m. at 24th and Mission streets.
The early ICE protest drew more than 100 people to 478 Tehama St. after immigrants received text messages Friday ordering them to check in with immigration officials this weekend.
'We believe there's a very high likelihood that means that they're planning to detain people on that site,' said Sanika Mahajan of immigrant outreach group Mission Action.
As many as 25 immigrants including families arrived by about 11 a.m., but the office appeared closed and no one had entered or left. Instead, activists met with the immigrants outside and connected them with lawyers.
Several protesters returned to the building Saturday afternoon after the No Kings march wound down. Some chant leaders and a drum line had remained there since 7 a.m.
'People are still out there holding it down, and they have not been able to open the ICE office today,' Mahajan told the crowd. 'We're not waiting for anyone to come save us.'
Saturday morning's ICE protest was followed by a human banner at San Francisco's Ocean beach, featuring hundreds of volunteers spelling out 'NO KING!'
The event was organized by travel writer Brad Newsham and architectural designer Travis Van Brasch, local activists who assembled human banners spelling out 'IMPEACH + REMOVE' and 'HANDS OFF DEMOCRACY' at Ocean Beach during nationwide protests in April.
In the more suburban South Bay, the No Kings protest took the form of a 7-mile-long rally along El Camino Real from one Tesla showroom in Palo Alto to another in Sunnyvale.
Protesters lined the busy thoroughfare as far as the eye could see, waving signs and lobbing 'No Kings' chants at an overwhelmingly supportive audience of drivers, who leaned on their horns or waved American flags out their windows in response, and occasional bicyclists, who gave thumbs-ups or rang their bells. The demonstration highlighted Trump's relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, which soured in recent weeks after Musk left the Department of Government Efficiency.
The rally, named 7x7 because 7,000 participants were expected, far exceeded attendance hopes, drawing about 20,000 people, said organizer IdaRose Sylvester. She called the turnout 'phenomenal' and said scores of attendees told her the rally had made them feel hopeful and less alone.
'It was fuel for me to keep this battle going,' Sylvester said.
Designed as an accessible form of protest, the rally was meant to build unity among protesters, said Sally Lieber, an organizer with the liberal group Together We Will and former state assemblywoman.
'Our feeling is very strongly that we have to come out of this crisis with a sense of radical solidarity,' Lieber said. 'This is not normal and this is not acceptable, and we will not sit down.'
Attendees rattled off a litany of motivations for protesting, but many were especially critical of Trump's deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles over the past week.
'California never called for his help, and there he was,' said Myra Cohen, a retired elementary school principal two weeks from her 99th birthday. Sitting in a wheelchair in the shade, she wore a gold paper crown that said 'No Kings!!!' and held a sign that read 'This generation won't stay silent on fascism.' Asked about her motivations for protesting, she quipped, 'Do you want a list?'
Cohen called Trump a 'bully' and said his actions stupefy her. 'I never thought I'd live to see this day,' she said. 'I just don't sleep well at night thinking about what's going on in the world.'
Ron Cohen, 72, Myra's son, stood a couple feet away brandishing a sign calling the president 'Trumpfuhrer' and his base 'MAGAstapo.' A retired Stanford physician, Ron Cohen said Trump's militarized response to L.A. protests constituted hypocrisy.
'This requires the Marines, but January 6th gets pardoned? Let's get real,' he said, referring to Trump supporters' 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Later, thousands of South Bay protesters descended on Palo Alto's Rinconada Park for a Democracy Fair featuring music, arts and crafts and educational workshops on topics such as climate change and abortion bans. An impromptu town hall meeting with Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, and a short speaker lineup including retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell and Stanford political science professor Larry Diamond closed out the event.
The gathering, organized by local Indivisible groups, was meant to provide a 'nourishing' space for new activists and 'emotionally spent' veterans, said organizer Naomi Woldemar. Part of that nourishment was physical: Organizers provided 10 Costco sheet cakes, frosted with American flags, as an ironic nod to Trump's ''let them eat cake' attitude,' Woldemar said. The desserts, handed out on red, white and blue napkins, were gone within 30 minutes.
Singer-songwriter Joan Baez finished out the fair's programming by reading poems and leading the swaying crowd in a rendition of 'No nos moverán' — 'We shall not be moved.' Baez said she considered the day's demonstrations a 'little victory' worth celebrating and told people to 'pony up' and keep protesting.
'This is not a time for the comfort zone,' she said.
Thousands of protesters also rallied outside Oakland's City Hall, packing Frank Ogawa Plaza and spilling onto the adjacent streets. Some sang protest songs. Others picnicked with toddlers on the grass. Some climbed the city's famed Jack London Oak tree.
Speaking from the back of a pickup truck, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee called for the protection of constitutional rights, democracy and immigrant communities.
'We are here to remind our country that this is a democracy. No kings allowed,' she said to cheers from the crowd. 'We do not allow dictators in a democracy. We are not going to allow this country — our great country — to devolve into an autocracy.'
Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, said Trump's 'authoritarian policies' on immigration are destroying California.
Immigrants 'are welcome here,' Wicks said. 'They are members of our communities. They make California what it is today. They represent the beauty of California and what makes the state great. I'm proud of our immigrant community.'
The Oakland protesters voiced disappointment with Democrats as much as they slammed Trump's policies.
Friends Sharlene Holmes and Janis Jackson said they showed up to fight for democracy because 'everybody has to do their part.' Both said they were disappointed by how Democrats have not been aggressive enough in responding to Trump.
'More of them need to be like Jasmine Crockett and AOC,' Jackson said, referencing the progressive Texas congresswoman and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Corte. 'They have more balls than the men do.'
Republicans have 'flipped the script,' and Democrats need to respond, said Jackson, a Contra Costa County resident.
Pam Brandau, 78, said she couldn't stay silent amid Trump's mass deportations plans. She stood at Frank Ogawa Plaza holding a sign made by her 8- and 11-year-old granddaughters that said 'Restore Justice and Mercy for everyone' on one side and 'Not Wanted: Kings' on the other.
'I am sad. I am mad. People are being taken,' she said. 'I just can't stand by and sit at home.'
Nearby, Nitya Sampath drove from the South Bay on Saturday morning to meet her sister in Oakland for the march. Sampath had only one message for Trump; 'He's a moron,' she said, pointing to her sign that read 'MAGA: Morons Are Governing America.'
Several thousand people gathered for a noon march through downtown Petaluma, carrying signs reading, 'No crown for the clown,' 'No MAGA monarchy,' and 'Eggs are so expensive cuz the chickens are in Congress.'
Outside the Bay Area, crowds spilled out onto Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz, stretching for blocks while traffic at the intersection with Riverside Avenue ground to a halt. Protesters chanted, 'Ain't no power like the power of the people because the power of the people don't stop.'
Veterans Vanessa Lopez and Tim Butler attended the Santa Cruz rally with their daughter. The couple said they are concerned by cuts to Veterans Affair jobs and benefits. Butler, who served in the Marines, said he is disturbed by the Marines being deployed in Los Angeles.
'To see Marines in the streets… we're not supposed to be in the streets, that's not what we're designed for. We're designed to protect the country and for assistance abroad,' Butler said. 'It's scary to see that, it's not something that should be happening in the United States.'
The couple's daughter, Tatiana Lopez, said it was her first protest.
'I'm proud to be here,' she said. 'For me it's about the deportation. My grandma, she's an immigrant, and I would hate to see her go back to Mexico after all the hard work that she's done to make my mom and me live such a good life.'
In Los Angeles, Anna Perez, 46, of suburban Lincoln Heights carried a sign honoring her grandparents, who immigrated to the U.S. from Sonora years ago and became citizens. Her parents worked as civil servants, and she now works for the city of Los Angeles.
'There's an insinuation we're all criminals, that we want to take from the government, to steal,' Perez said. 'We all turned out perfectly fine.'
She had spent the last week watching ICE raids and unrest with alarm.
The situation crystallized for her when she asked her 14-year-old how she felt about everything.
Her daughter replied, 'It's sad this has become our new normal,' she said. 'It's hard to hear that.'
Caroline Heldman, a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, said in an interview on KPIX that the number of people marching nationwide in Saturday's No Kings protests could set a new record for the U.S.
The largest single-day protest in U.S. history was the Women's March in 2017, which was held in response to Trump's first inauguration. Estimates of the number of people who attended demonstrations that day range from 3.3 million to 4.6 million, including about 100,000 in San Francisco.
Ko Lyn Cheang, Sarah Ravani, Hannah Hagemann, St. John Barned-Smith, Christian Leonard and Demian Bulwa contributed to this report.