Massive ‘No Kings' protesters sweep New York City and across US amid celebration of Army's 250th bday
Tens of thousands of lefty 'No Kings' protesters took to the streets of New York City and across the country Saturday in a 'day of defiance' against President Trump as the US Army held its 250th anniversary military parade in Washington, DC.
There were no indications of significant violence or arrests in the Big Apple, where demonstrations began at around noon time in Queens and later in Brooklyn and Manhattan — where at least 10,000 showed up, police sources said. 'No Kings' organizers claimed that 'millions participated nationally,' though The Post couldn't independently verify that stat.'
'I just came out because I see a lot of things happening in the country that are really scary,' Lisa Doula, 53, who lives in Jersey City, told The Post from Bryant Park.
'In terms of sending military out against civilians, people getting picked up by masked unidentified law enforcement and potentially getting deported, so I need to do something,' she added, referring to the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles in response to rioting.
Protesters weren't shy about being provocative, accusing Trump, who celebrated his 79th birthday Saturday, of being authoritarian for celebrating the Army's founding as well as other grievances they had and parading the Stars and Stripes upside-down on Flag Day.
7 Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the US in nearly 2,000 organized demonstrations.
AFP via Getty Images
7 Some of the protesters flew ripped-up or upside-down American flags despite Saturday being Flag Day.
AFP via Getty Images
7 Demonstrators had a litany of concerns ranging from the 250th Army anniversary parade to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.
AFP via Getty Images
Trump had long set his sights on having a blowout military parade, having marveled at similar ones abroad, such as Bastille Day in France. After winning the 2016 election, he pushed to have tanks roll down Washington, DC, but was shut down by local officials due to fear about infrastructure damage.
Planning for the Army's 250th day parade had been in the works for nearly two years and its the first major military in DC in about 34 years.
'Say it loud, say it clear, fascists are not welcome here!' protesters jeered across New York City.
'No kings, no Trump! Columbia, don't back the chump!'
The Post saw signs reading 'No King Here,' 'No Faux King,' 'Abuse of power comes as no surprise,' 'F— Trump.' Other signs described the president as tyrannical, racist, unjust, malignant and a pariah.
'We are here for the No Kings protests to stand with people across the country against dictatorship,' one protester was heard shouting.
'Be civil but disobey,' another passerby yelled, fearing unrest would only play into Trump's hands.
7 Participants accused President Trump of behaving like a king and showing authoritarian tendencies.
AFP via Getty Images
7 The protests took place on President Trump's 79th birthday.
AFP via Getty Images
Many demonstrators parroted similar gripes.
'Trump is trying to stop all resistance, suppress any opposing speech, we can't have that in our democracy,' Dan Filor, 52, a lawyer who lives outside the city and wielded a 'B-Day Military Parade Club' sign, said.
'He has his parade today, but that's not what we're doing. We're doing democracy, we're not doing authoritarianism, tyrant, we know the people that do those.'
New York City Police Department officers were scattered throughout the protest areas, keeping a watchful eye on the demonstrators.
'Many things, as one great sign said that too much f—ery to put on one sign,' Becky, 67 from Montclair, NJ, told The Post when asked why she was carrying a sign with a toilet that said throne.
The 50501 Movement, which stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement, helped orchestrate the mammoth demonstration, following similar national protests it led in March and February.
A constellation of leftist groups, such as Common Cause, Indivisible, Families Over Billionaires, the American Federation of Teachers, helped buttress the nearly 2,000 protests across the country, in some cases with the backing of dark money from left-leaning millionaires and billionaires.
Planned demonstrations in Minnesota were upended after the shooting suspect, who gunned down former Democratic state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, while badly injuring state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.
7 Some pro-Trump counterprotesters crashed several of the demonstrations.
AFP via Getty Images
'No Kings' flyers were found in the suspect's vehicle, prompting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to urge organizers to scrap protest activity planned in the state. Organizers promptly obliged.
Elsewhere, across the country, the demonstrations sprang up across the country in full force.
In Los Angeles, which has faced rioting in recent days over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, businesses had boarded up while bracing for the storm of protests. One boarded-up shop had a message that read 'Mexican-owned business' to sway demonstrators away from looting.
Still, in some parts of the country, such as Atlanta, law enforcement was forced to deploy tear gas as demonstrations began getting rowdy. Organizers for 'No Kings' specifically refrained from planning a protest in DC to avoid drawing attention to the nation's capital, where the Army was holding its festivities.
7 Despite 'No Kings' organizers officially planning events in DC, some protests sprang up in the nation's capital nonetheless.
AP
Despite that, other smaller-scale demonstrations sprang up in DC.
Ahead of the 'No Kings' demonstrations, Trump pushed back at characterizations of him being a king.
'I don't feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,' Trump told reporters this week. 'The king would have never had the California mandate. He wouldn't have to call up Mike Johnson and say, 'fellas, you have got to pull this off.'
'We're not a king.'
Additional reporting by Joe Marino.
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