Posted June 17, 2025
MORE THAN FIVE million people turned out to “NO KINGS” to the rallies and marches held in 2100 cities and small towns across the country on June 14. The creative signs captured the news, eclipsing Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C. While Trump claimed a turnout of 250,000 spectators for a parade that cost $45-100 million, photographs reveal partially filled grandstand set up along the parade route.
Across the country people mocked the would-be king on his 79th birthday with various signs: “No crown for a clown,” “No Kings Since 1776,” “America has no king except Elvis,” “No Faux King Way.”
The previous week Trump had deployed 4000 members of the California National Guard and 700 Marines to terrorize immigrants and intimidate anyone who would attempt to help those caught up in mass workplace raids. Yet thousands of people in Los Angles, where a significant portion of the population was born in another country, came out to defend their communities.
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) waded into working-class neighborhoods, police and National Guard fired gas, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets at those who protested. An Australian journalist was injured by a rubber bullet and hundreds were arrested.
The most prominent person arrested was David Huerta, president of SEIU in California. He was arrested even before the National Guard was called up, while protesting outside a business where ICE conducted a raid. As a crowd gathered outside, Huerta encouraged picketing and was slammed to the ground. Arrested for attempting to impede the ICE operation, he was hospitalized and jailed but released on a $50,000 bond after SEIU called for national protests.
Trump has begun to back away from his demand that ICE arrest and deport 3,000 people a day. Why? As an ICE official wrote about Trump’s new policy:
“Effective today, please hold on all work site enforcement investigations/operations on agriculture (including aquaculture and meat packing plants), restaurants and operating hotels.”
Despite the pause for some of the industries Trump doesn’t want to inconvenience, the June 14 protests nailed Trump’s autocratic moves with signs such as “Fight the Oligarchy,” “Fight Fascism.” Many carried the American flag, essentially saying that the flag doesn’t “belong” to the far right. Signs also targeted ICE: “The only ICE is crushed ICE,” “ICE melts,” “ICE out.”
The rallies were called by 50501 and Indivisible and joined by a diverse group of local organizations. The rallies and marches were overwhelmingly peaceful, with a handful of isolated confrontations. In Riverside, California, the driver of an SUV struck a participant and sped away. A masked man attacked protesters outside the Arizona statehouse and caused the crowd to scatter when he pulled out a gun. The most serious case was in Salt Lake City, where a bystander was shot and killed.
Here are summary reports from Solidarity members and friends who participated in rallies in many cities.
ANN ARBOR: I attended the NO KINGS demo in Ann Arbor, where I work. I’d committed to being there as part of the All Campus Labor Council choir that opened the program with three labor/struggle songs – “Step by Step,” “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” and “Solidarity Forever.”
The only elected official who spoke was Yusuf Rabhi, a union staffer and county commissioner. Other speakers included a veteran, the president of an AFGE local representing VA workers, a county officer for racial equity programs, a representative from Workers Strike Back and a cochair of the Graduate Employee Organization, which has been a major player in the divestment movement locally.
Both the GEO and Workers Strike Back speakers were forceful about the need for independence from the Democrats and connecting struggles against ICE with international struggles against imperialism.
The crowd was larger than I can ever remember seeing in Ann Arbor – easily 5000 and maybe twice that. When we marched, the crowd filled up two lanes of traffic for at least six city blocks.
Of note, there was a bit of tension leading up to the rally between the NAACP, which was holding an all-day Juneteenth celebration, and organizers of the No Kings demonstration. Although the No Kings organizers moved their event later to minimize the overlap, the local NAACP was unhappy. The crowd was not noticeably less diverse than most Ann Arbor demonstrations (probably 80-90% white). While younger than most Ann Arbor off-campus demonstrations, it still skewed toward an older crowd.
BALTIMORE, MD: Like the other anti-Trump events I’ve been to in Baltimore, the NO KINGS rally was heavily majority white. Thousands rallied in a city park, away from the street. There was a festival atmosphere, with food trucks and kids’ activities. There were lots of homemade signs, many very humorous, mostly focused on democracy and constitutionality but also several about Palestine and protecting LGBTQ people. The rally began shortly after the Pride parade ended so I think some people went directly from one to the other. Not much visible far-left presence except for one or two socialist organizations tabling. A couple of people circulating strike cards for a proposed general strike. Unfortunately, there was no formal organized labor presence.
CHICAGO: The NO KINGS march of 75,000 was much more diverse than the Hands Off march, with a lot more young folks and people of color marching and chanting. In particular, there were large numbers of young Latino protesters.
The most common chants and signs were still focused on Trump and on dictators, but fewer than during the Hands Off protest. Instead, there were chants opposing the genocide in Gaza as well as chants opposing ICE and deportations. Many, many homemade signs!
Unfortunately, despite the centrality of genocide and starvation in Gaza and U.S. complicity, there was shamefully no mention from the stage.
The Hands Off march seemed a little more on the joyful side, and the NO KINGS march seemed a little more on the angry side. Participants included union contingents, student activists and new protesters across generations (trending older but many young.) Building on recent mobilizations, and anticipating many to come, there was a sense of collective power in our numbers.
CINCINNATI, OH: 8,000 in downtown Cincinnati. Additional groups of several hundred to a thousand in Loveland, Mason, West Chester, Wilmington, Middletown, Covington, and Hamilton. All of these smaller locations are within an hour’s drive of the city — and typically less likely to hold demonstrations. People are energized and angry. The crowd was much larger than organizers must have anticipated as we had trouble maneuvering and handling the spaces planned for us.
DETROIT: As in many other metro areas, there were a number of demonstrations throughout the metro area. In Detroit several thousand attended the NO KINGS rally in Clark Park, the heart of the Mexican American neighborhood. Although there had been a chance of rain, the day warmed up and the park was a sea of distinctive signs.
A group of bikers stopped by to hassle the crowd, but once they saw its size, decided to move off – although they managed to injure one participant, who was quickly aided by a medic.
A local immigrant rights coalition, People’s Assembly, asked participants to write letters to ICE detainees in English or Spanish. About 100 were sent off the following day.
Following speakers and music, participants marched to the ICE headquarters.
INDIANAPOLIS: About 5000 or more attended the NO KINGS rally. The tone was very combative against Trumpism with deportations, autocracy, oligarchy and democratic rights at the center of protest. The rally was the same day as the Indy Pride Parade but since the pride parade was early, most participants were able to attend the rally.
JOPLIN, MO: The NO KINGS rally was by far the biggest demo Joplin has had in years. The one against DOGE a few weeks ago had well over 100 people but today’s turnout was at least double. Organizers estimated 500.
LOS ANGELES & SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: With National Guard, Marines, the Los Angles Police Department, ICE and the FBI in town, more than 200,000 demonstrated in the city with more than 60,000 in San Diego, 15,000 in Long Beach and Riverside, 12,000 in Santa Barbara, 10,000 in Pasadena and Thousand Oaks.
MAINE: Forty NO KINGS protests throughout Maine. Much creativity in the signs and theater, lots of solidarity, and constant insane honking in support from passing cars. Two different sites, first in the waterfront park, sponsored by the Democratic Party, then a larger group in a Main Street Park, where weekly protests sponsored by the Left are held. People came to both from the mid-coast area, over 1000 protesters, exciting for a town of 7031.
MILWAUKEE: 10,000-15,000 rallied in Milwaukee’s Cathedral Square, one of several NO KINGS! rallies in and around Milwaukee.
MURFREESBORO, TN: Media estimates for the NO KINGS event I attended in Murfreesboro are 2000+. The group lined up along a busy road in front of Murfreesboro’s biggest mall. Mostly standing in a single line, the crowd seemed to go forever in both directions from my perspective. I was surprised by the size of the crowd (Murfreesboro is generally described as deeply red (Republican). There was a lot of positive car honking. While the messaging put forward by individuals varied, with a handful of “Free Palestine” signs, the general thrust was overwhelmingly patriotic and pro-constitution. There were many American flags.
Media accounts of Nashville said there were thousands in attendance. Media images again show many American flags. The rally there began with the Pledge of Allegiance. The day before, on Friday, there was also a demonstration at the Federal Building where the arraignment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia was being held. Sponsored by immigrant rights organizations, PSL also signed on as a sponsor and was represented by a speaker. From folks I know that attended, there were again plenty of American flags.
NORTHERN MICHIGAN: Petoskey, In the northern part of Michigan’s lower peninsula, had their biggest demonstration ever, with 1500 turning out with homemade signs.
OLYMPIA & SEATTLE, WA: About 7,000 rallied in Olympia, the Washington’s capital, while over 70,000 turned out in Seattle! All ages, diverse make-up, lots of sign up for future action. Best sign of the day: I like my ICE crushed!Nearby Charlevoix held a NO KINGS rally of 500 — their largest demonstration ever.
PASADENA, CA: I brought my family to the NO KINGS demo in Pasadena, just outside LA. Easily several thousand there, the most I’ve ever witnessed in Pasadena. But that was just one of dozens of rallies across the LA area, including a monster rally downtown, for which you should see the aerial footage if you haven’t already. There were also sizeable rallies in conservative Orange County.
The vibe in Pasadena was pretty peaceful, lots of families out. Obviously, a strong Latino contingent. There were a few aggressive drivers speeding through the nearby intersection, but otherwise it felt safe. Little police presence.
My other data point is that several parents from my kids’ school attended rallies elsewhere around LA, and people were posting about it in our parents WhatsApp chat group.
So, this definitely has some trappings of the start of a more mass movement.
PITTSBURGH: The June 14 anti-Trump demonstration was larger than those of April 5 and May 1 — perhaps 10,000. The crowd seemed largely made up of those who must sell their labor power to make a living – blue and white collar workers — and those who have retired.
Demonstrators filled several blocks around the City-County Building, holding handmade signs, waving flags and chanting. The Pittsburgh Labor Choir and local activist and singer/songwriter Mike Stout provided.
Speakers included science educators, union workers, immigrant advocates. veterans and others who said that Trump administration policies were causing harm to the country.
Natalie Duleba, secretary of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, whose members have been on strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since October 2022, pointed to the importance of the working class in fighting for workers’ rights on the job and civil rights in the larger society. Although the union has won several cases against the newspaper, because of weak U.S. labor law, the newspaper continues to ignore the decisions.
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TX: We actually had five NO KING rallies in South Texas (the 956 area) at South Padre Island, Brownsville, San Benito, Harlingen, and McAllen. Three of those five rallies were held in cities where you rarely see protests. For most part, none of the rallies had speakers. Instead, there were festive crowds lining the main with signs, chants, cheers and flags.
Attendees tended to be young (in their 20s or early 30s) and Latinx. All were held in the morning.
The clear message in our region was on immigration, fighting Trump, and getting rid of ICE. Protesters told the media that they saw little difference between legal and illegal immigration. All the NO KING rallies were peaceful. The region has been solidly Democrat and protests here tend to be based non-violence. We have few elements that would favor a more aggressive approach, which is not the case in Austin where there is a different protest history.
The largest demonstration was in McAllen, where more than 1,500 people lined Business 83 near the federal courthouse. Motorists in support of immigrant justice turned the busy street into a parade route with people honking, waving and flying flags from their vehicles to cheers from protesters.
In McAllen, we did have a presence of state troopers, and city police but they were kept at bay. The morning rally had the backing of unions such as AFT, the local chapter of the Brown Berets, and various Democrat Party clubs and groups. The local DSA and YDSA chapters attended as well smaller groups such as Bolt Cutter (an anarchist group) and PSL.
There was an additional rally that was “organized” or rather social media blasted by a local young social media influencer El Gilbert who announced a gathering in McAllen at 530pm. This was a follow up to a previous one the month before when he managed to draw massive crowds that took over the street and marched for two-three miles. This rally was even younger as it was posted on Instagram and drew from previous events. The protest of 600-800 lasted until 10pm when the police broke up the rally and a handful were arrested.
SALT LAKE CITY: Participants in the June 14 NO KINGS protests in Utah numbered in total about three times the size of the April 5 “Hands Off” protests. They were also generally angrier and more explicitly focused on the person and policies of Donald Trump. The largest protests were in Salt Lake City at the center of the 80+ mile long north-south ‘Wasatch Front’ in north central Utah where 80% of Utah’s population lives.
Over 15,000 participated in the two Salt Lake City demonstrations along with about 5,000 in Provo 40 miles south of Salt Lake and about 10,000 in Ogden 40 miles to the north.
In comparison to the April 5th “Hands Off” demonstration (a large one at the state capitol building and small protests in seven other Utah cities), there were 14 NO KINGS protests outside the Ogden-SLC-Provo corridor.
At the large Wasatch Front demonstrations there were more older and young participants than would be proportionately representative of Utah’s age demographics. Gender and ethnic participation seemed roughly representative of Utah demographics, including from Latine folks, Utah’s largest minority at about 15%.
Many local DSA members joined in the evening Salt Lake City protest. Some DSA members participated in the “emergency” Thursday evening June 12 Salt Lake protest of 1,000 organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY AREA: There were over 200 rallies throughout the state with more than 50 in the Bay Area alone. In general, they were more youthful and diverse than the “Hands Off” rallies. The crowds that marched were so large they packed shoulder to shoulder for half a mile, blocking streets and causing delays in traffic.
Over 100,000 marched to San Francisco’s Civic Center while 21,000 marched in Mountain View, 20,000 in demonstrations from Palo Alto to Sunnyvale, 12,000 in San Jose, 10,000 in Oakland and Santa Cruz, 7,000 in Santa Rosa and Walnut Creek, 5000 in Sacramento and Monterey, 3000 in Dublin, San Mateo and Petaluma, 2,000 in Hayward and Vallejo.
Further north the largest NO KINGS rallies where there were 4000 in Grass Valley and 3000 in Sonoma. Further south, the largest actions were 12,000 in Santa Barbara, 4500 in Bakersfield and 3500 in Fresno.
VERMONT: The state’s largest NO KINGS rally was in Burlington with maybe 20,000 joining.
There were several hundred Palestinian flags. Ashley Smith of Tempest was the MC. Several hundred Palestinian flags, Speakers included a representative of Migrant Justice (with ICE arresting one of their leaders in northern VT today), as well as Palestinians and socialist labor leftist. DSA VT. State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky of the Progressive Party spoke out strongly for both Palestine and Ukraine.
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