Hundreds of people gathered on the side of a road in St. Petersburg, Florida, with tens of thousands in Manhattan as part of the third wave of protests by the No Kings movement to once again mobilize citizens across the country to protest against President Donald Trump and his administration, summarizing Mother Jones.
As evidenced “clearly” by the slogans, signs, and speeches given during Saturday’s events, “countless Americans are outraged by the violence of immigration federal agents in American cities, the rising cost of living, the ongoing war against Iran, and the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal by the administration,” notes the progressive magazine.
The approximately 3,300 rallies organized on Saturday marked the third day of action by the No Kings coalition since Donald Trump returned to the White House. According to organizers, the processions brought together at least eight million people, one million more than during the last day of action in October – unverified figures independently.
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the planned rally in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, the epicenter of ICE police violence earlier this year.
“According to organizers, more than 200,000 people attended this event, which celebrated the residents of Minnesota who resisted the federal anti-immigration policy as well as attacking President Donald Trump,” testifies The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Several “big names in music and progressive politics were featured in this rally, including Senator Bernie Sanders, Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, and Jane Fonda,” details the newspaper. Singer Bruce Springsteen, also participating, performed his song “Streets of Minneapolis,” written in memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot by ICE agents in January.
Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, stood out in his speech, not hesitating to call Donald Trump a “budding dictator” and an “orange clown” destined for the “trash cans of history,” as reported by Fox News.
He accused the White House of sending “aggressive and untrained thugs” to “cause trouble” in his state, holding the administration responsible for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and demanding justice for his “traumatized” community.
In Portland and Los Angeles, clashes ensued despite mostly peaceful marches, with law enforcement using tear gas and pepper balls on protesters, injuring at least one person in the eye and causing burns to others, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The “confrontation” between “police, some on horseback, and a small group of demonstrators” continued into the evening outside a federal detention center, as detailed by the West Coast newspaper.
Although Donald Trump did not respond to the protests on Saturday night, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson did not hold back, describing them as “anti-Trump therapy sessions” that only interested “journalists paid to cover them,” as noted by NPR.
CNN highlights that “nearly half of these protests took place in Republican strongholds. Texas, Florida, and Ohio each had over 100 planned events for the day,” while states like “Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah had double-digit gatherings.”
Even more revealing, “a multitude of rural communities with Republican tendencies participated for the first time today in the movement, from Seward (Alaska) to East Glacier Park (Montana),” notes the American channel.
But will this massive mobilization be enough to “alter the course of national politics”? ponder The New York Times. “Will protest movements be able to harness this energy to turn it into victories in the November mid-term elections? How can we prevent this primal cry from fading into a mere whimper?”
The rise of protests “does not guarantee political victories, as evidenced by the tumultuous history of protest movements in the country,” confirms The Washington Post.
“For those who are mobilizing, these acts of resistance,” whether in Democratic cities or Republican strongholds, “prove that democracy is alive and well, even under the presidency of a self-proclaimed ‘king,'” observes the newspaper.
