Protesters are beginning to gather Saturday in Los Angeles and elsewhere in Southern California for “No Kings” demonstrations, a nationwide effort to push back against President Trump.
In June, millions of demonstrators took to the streets across the nation for the first “No Kings” protests as the Trump administration’s agenda began coming into focus. At that time, the Department of Homeland Security had begun carrying out large-scale immigration raids across Southern California, and Trump deployed military troops to Los Angeles in response to mass protests.
Since then, many Americans believe that Trump’s actions — doubling down on immigration raids in major cities, deploying National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and embarking on an aggressive campaign against political opponents — have only become more severe.
Trump pushed back against the underlying premise of the protest in an interview with Fox News on Friday.
“They’re referring to me as a king,” he said. “I’m not a king.”
More than 2,700 “No Kings” demonstrations are scheduled across the country, roughly 600 more events than in June, in which more than 5 million people participated. Demonstrations are already underway in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston, drawing massive crowds.
In an attempt to broaden the scope of “No Kings,” organizers are appealing to Americans upset over the rising cost of living, gutting of environmental protections, sweeping overhauls of federal agencies, and the government shutdown over looming healthcare cuts.
The protest in Los Angeles’ Grand Park is expected to begin by 2 p.m. In Orange County, demonstrators are expected to arrive at Centennial Park in Santa Ana on Saturday afternoon to protest not only Trump’s immigration actions, but also his policies on healthcare, environmental protections and education.
“We the People have had enough of the illegal actions being carried out by this sham administration,” Amy Stevens, one of the Orange County demonstration’s organizers, said in a statement. “Change starts from the bottom up.”
Organizers say the goal of “No Kings” goes beyond just getting Americans out on the streets, hoping to connect people who are upset and frustrated with the Trump administration to local organizing groups.
“Getting involved in those groups, making those face to face connections and joining them will have a much larger impact over the next few days, the next few weeks, next few months, the next few years, than just one day of protest,” said Hunter Dunn, a spokesman for 50501, one of the “No Kings” coalition’s core organizing partners.
Saturday’s rallies are happening amid a major disruption to one of Southern California’s major freeways.
The state announced Saturday morning that it would close a 17-mile stretch of Interstate 5 for several hours after military officials confirmed that live-fire artillery rounds will be shot over the freeway during a Marine Corps event at Camp Pendleton.
The unprecedented closure is expected to cause massive gridlock, but it is not clear what impact, if any, it will have on the day’s demonstrations.
“Using our military to intimidate people you disagree with isn’t strength — it’s reckless, it’s disrespectful, and it’s beneath the office he holds,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Law and order? This is chaos and confusion.”
Staff writers Jenny Jarvie and Nathan Solis contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
