More than 1,500 “No Kings Day” demonstrations are set to take place across the U.S. this weekend to protest the Trump Administration as President Donald Trump holds a military parade in Washington, D.C.
The demonstrations will take place all over the country on Saturday, coinciding with the parade Trump has planned to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday. Ezra Levin, the co-founder and co-executive director of the progressive organization Indivisible that’s behind “No Kings Day,” told MSNBC on Monday that the protests—originally announced last month—have generated “overwhelming interest” in the aftermath of the Administration’s response to the immigration-related protests in Los Angeles.
“In America, we don’t do kings,” reads a website for the events. “They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. Far.”
The protests will follow days of demonstrations in L.A. over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids targeting undocumented immigrants. In a rare and controversial exercise of presidential power, Trump over the weekend mobilized the National Guard—against the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom—to quell the protests in the L.A. area, which had been largely peaceful. The move sparked immediate outcry from Democratic politicians, advocacy organizations, and legal experts. Trump has since escalated federal involvement by deploying hundreds of Marines and thousands of additional National Guard troops to the city.
“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like,” the “No Kings Day” description said. “On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere [Trump] isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
Read more: What the Founding Fathers Said About Kings
The event’s organizers aren’t holding a protest in D.C. itself, saying they want to make the demonstrations elsewhere the story of the day rather than allowing Saturday’s military parade to be “the center of gravity.”
On Tuesday, Trump warned people planning to protest at the parade that they would face “very big force.”
“For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Trump said. “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
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