On Saturday, June 14, thousands showed up with to peacefully protest on “No Kings Day” in Patterson Park in opposition to the Trump administration. The day was also the president’s 79th birthday, the US Army’s 250th birthday, and the first military parade hosted on US soil since 1991, when one honored troops returning from the Persian Gulf War.
There were more than 25 different protests on Saturday across Maryland, part of 2,000 national protests across the country, according to the No Kings Day website, with NPR and the ACLU reporting that 5 million people participated, compared to reportedly “sparse” crowds at the official “festivities” in Washington, DC.
In Baltimore, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen, and Baltimore City Council Member Odette Ramos delivered remarks to the crowd, after musical performances and chants in front of the hilltop Observatory. The crowd also held a moment of silence for the MN senator and congressperson, and their spouses, shot by a gunman earlier that day.
Not just one protest, but a series from the 50501 movement (50 protests. 50 states. 1 day.), No Kings Day protests have been held on five different dates so far, nationwide, since February. Indivisible Baltimore organized the event in Baltimore, where recent ICE raids and illegal actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to detain and deport undocumented immigrants have drawn sharp pushbacks against government overreach. (Cara Ober)
