Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration are set to rally in hundreds of cities on Saturday during the military parade in Washington to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary, which coincides with Trump’s birthday. “No Kings” will follow several days of nationwide protests against federal immigration raids including in Los Angeles, where Trump’s deployment of the National Guard further agitated his opponents.
In Los Angeles, after a week of protests over federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines moved into the city on Friday to guard a federal building in the city while communities across the country prepped for what is anticipated to be a nationwide wave of large-scale demonstrations against President Donald Trump’s polices, reports AP.
On Friday, Marines started to replace Guard members protecting the federal building west of downtown, so the Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement officers on raids, the commander in charge of 4,700 troops deployed to the LA protests said.
Some 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles this week. Another 2,000 Guard members were notified of deployment earlier this week.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has called the troop deployment a “serious breach of state sovereignty” and a power grab by Trump, and he has gone to court to stop it. The president has cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”
A federal judge said in a ruling late Thursday that what is happening in Los Angeles does not meet the definition of a rebellion and issued an order to return control of the Guard to California before the appeals court stopped it from going into effect Friday. The court will hold a hearing on the matter Tuesday.
In contrast, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is following the president’s cue. Abbott said Thursday that he has ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, in response to the ongoing demonstrations and in preparation for the protests.
Orchestrated by the 50501 movement, the nonviolent “No Kings” demonstrations are planned in nearly 2,000 locations around the country except Washington D.C., according to the movement’s website.
The 50501 Movement, a national movement made up of everyday Americans who stand for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration and billionaire-first politics, stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. Organizers intend for the protests to counter the Army’s 250th anniversary celebration — which Trump has ratcheted up to include an expensive, lavish military parade featuring hundreds of military vehicles, aircraft, and thousands of soldiers. It also happens to be his 79th birthday and Flag Day.
“The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us,” the “No Kings” website says. “On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”