Even as President Trump has cracked down on dissent and sent troops into multiple cities, organizers of Saturday’s anti-authoritarian “No Kings” protests expect millions to join at least 2,500 rallies across all 50 states and several U.S. territories. The turnout could surpass the 5 million protesters who turned out for “No Kings Day” events in June.
“We are engaging in the most American activity in the world, which is coming together in peaceful protest of our government,” says Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of the progressive organization Indivisible. Trump’s threats against the protests are a “classic exercise of the authoritarian playbook, to try to create fear, to try to threaten, to try to make people back off preemptively,” she adds.
“There will be no fear, but the fear of what will happen to us if we don’t mobilize,” says Byron Sigcho Lopez, alderperson of the 25th Ward in Chicago, where mass protests are expected.
