Nationwide demonstrations take shape of street parties

Protesting the direction of the country under President Trump, people gathered Saturday in the nation’s capital and hundreds of communities big and small across the U.S. for the latest round of “No Kings” demonstrations, the largest to date.

- BY MIKE PESOLI AND GARY FIELDS

PROTESTERS in Garfield and frog costumes rally in Minneapolis on Saturday.

(KEREM YUCEL AFP/Getty Images)

With signs such as “Nothing is more patriotic than protesting” and “Resist Fascism,” the events looked more like a street party in many places.

There were marching bands, a huge banner with the U.S. Constitution's “We the People” preamble that people could add their signatures to, and demonstrators wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Ore.

It was the third mass mobilization since Trump’s return to the White House in January and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programs and services but is also testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organizers warn indicate a slide toward authoritarianism.

Trump was spending the weekend at his Mara-Lago home in Florida.

“They say they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired early Friday, before he departed for a $1-million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mara-Lago.

Later Friday, a Trump campaign social media account mocked the “No Kings” protests by posting a computer-generated video of the president clothed like a monarch. In it, he wears a crown and waves from the top of a balcony.

People packed into New York City’s Times Square, Boston Common and Chicago’s Grant Park; outside state capitols in Tennessee and Indiana and a courthouse in Billings, Mont.; and at hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,700 rallies were planned on the day, organizers said.

Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was “pathetic.”