Millions attend ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump across America

The length and width of the United States of America on Saturday witnessed crowds of millions of people protesting against what they perceive to be rising authoritarianism and corruption under President Donald Trump.

According to local media, more than 2,700 “No Kings” rallies were due to be held in all 50 states in what is thought to be the largest mobilization against the Trump Administration yet.

Organizers estimated that some 7 million people protested across the country in suburbs, towns and all major cities.

The media have reported huge crowds in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston with protests also seen in deep red states—in Birmingham, Alabama and Billings, Montana.

According to the TIME online, some experts have speculated that the demonstrations could be the largest in modern U.S. history.

“Today, millions of Americans stood together to reject authoritarianism and remind the world that our democracy belongs to the people, not to one man’s ambition,” Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, co-founders of Indivisible, which helped organize the event, said in a statement.

The protests come in response to an unprecedented use of presidential power by Trump in his second term.

The magazine recalled that, since January, President Trump has ordered the National Guard into Democratic-run cities to quell protests and aid in immigration enforcement, launched a crackdown on left-wing and liberal groups, and implemented a sweeping mass deportation program that has seen masked federal agents engaged in military-style raids and detained people without due process.

The ‘No Kings’ rallies enjoys the backing of Democrats from across the ideological spectrum.

Former presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton have both given their support, along with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent Senator Bernie Sanders.

Sanders is quoted to have told protesters at the rally in Washington, D.C. that: “We’re here because we love America.”

He called out billionaires who attended Trump’s inauguration- Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, saying: “This moment is not just about one man’s greed, one man’s corruption, or one man’s contempt for the constitution; this is about a handful of the wealthiest people on earth, who in their insatiable greed, have hijacked our economy and our political system in order to enrich themselves at the expense of working families throughout this country.”

Bill Nye, beloved children’s television program host known for “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” also addressed D.C. protestors, lamenting the Trump Administration’s treatment of scientists—likely addressing the major cuts that have occurred at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under new head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He lamented, saying: “They do not promote the progress of science. They suppress it, to the detriment of our health, well-being, and international competitiveness.”

Protests were reportedly organized all over the country so that most Americans were only an hour away from a planned event.

TIME quoted Jill Ortman-Fouse, a community organizer in Silver Spring, Maryland, as saying that the protest there had doubled in size since the last ‘No Kings’ event in June.

Another woman whose job has been impacted indirectly by the federal furlough of workers, and who reportedly brought her one-year-old son to the protest in Silver Spring for the second time, told TIME she was Jewish and “grew up hating fascism, so to see it happening here is heartbreaking. It’s an assault on my soul.”

The first ‘No Kings’ day of protest in June, attended by an estimated five million people, was largely peaceful, although isolated clashes broke out between police and demonstrators in several cities.

Organizers had raised fears ahead of the protest that Trump and his allies would use the protests as an excuse to launch further crackdowns on dissent.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced National Guard deployments in Austin, citing what he called possible threats from “antifa-linked” demonstrators. Democrats there accused him of using the Guard to intimidate protesters.

The American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible, MoveOn and the American Federation of Teachers say they are taking extra precautions, focusing on de-escalation and community safety, and distributing guidance on how to respond peacefully if met with aggression by law enforcement or counter protesters.