‘No Kings’ protests march in Bay Area

“The people united will never be defeated,” protesters shouted.

Marchers packed Market Street for several large city blocks holding homemade signs reading, “Dethrone The Don,” “Hands Off Our Democracy,” “I Like My ICE Crushed,” “You Can’t Gaslight The Constitution” and “This Is Not An Insurrection.”

Some dressed in inflatable costumes such as dinosaurs, bears, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from ‘Ghostbusters.’ Several had dogs or children in tow. A man who was nude except for a cowboy hat paraded with “Trump” in large dark letters on his buttocks.

The parade from Embarcadero Plaza to the Civic Center stepped off about 2 p.m., led by a San Francisco Police Department motorcycle escort that evoked cheers from onlookers. The crowd was so thick that, 40 minutes later, people were still waiting their turn to join the march.

At the Civic Center, dozens of speakers from union leaders to immigration activists spoke on a stage to thousands of attendees, who shouted in agreement to the speeches. Joan Baez sang “Gracias a la Vida” (“Here’s to Life.”)

“I feel hopeful,” said Antonio Bustamante, a San Francisco resident in an interview. “The goal of the Trump regime is to make us feel divided and alone, but this just proves there’s more of us than them.”

Mayor Daniel Lurie praised the demonstrators for their peacefulness in a video posted to Instagram.

“I just wanted to say thank you to all the San Franciscans, all the proud Americans that showed up today, demonstrated their First Amendment rights,” he said. “They did it peacefully, they did it thoughtfully.”

In a separate demonstration at Ocean Beach, protesters formed a “human banner” spelling out “No Kings, Yes on 50.” The latter was a reference to a ballot measure to redraw congressional district maps to add more Democratic seats.

In Oakland, thousands of protesters streamed into Wilma Chen Plaza. Many held signs, wore colorful costumes, and gleefully chanted a unified message about their dissatisfaction with the Trump Administration.

Attendees laughed at the decorations that poked fun at the administration, but through smiles, people reiterated their concerns that their civil rights were in peril and said it was their patriotic duty to push back.

Rachael Grail arrived to the march with her friends in inflatable costumes in an effort to spread joy to others.

“The reason we decided to wear these is for strategic frivolity,” Grail said, referring to their outfits. “We want to stand for joy and kindness. By wearing these we show that we aren’t playing by the same tactics as this administration with hate and fear.”

Dr. Stewart Chen, an activist in Oakland’s Chinatown, spoke just before people marched to the Lake Merritt amphitheater.

“No Kings Day is not just a march,” he said. “It is a reminder that power belongs to the people, and we have to fight back.”

After traveling several blocks through downtown Oakland, marchers arrived at the Lake Merritt amphitheater to listen to local leaders speak.

Valarie Bachelor, executive director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said that, besides the protest, they want people to feel empowered.

“Today, and every time we protest against this authoritarian regime, we are saying Oakland will not be bullied, Oakland will not be broken, and Oakland will not buckle,” Bachelor said.

U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Oakland, railed against the administration in a speech.

“So, to our neighbors here, to our nation and to our collective people I want to be clear that we are, in fact, living in the midnight of our democracy,” she said. “Those folks who believe they are powerful, they have shut down our government and dared to call it leadership. We say, ‘Hell no!’”

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said true patriotism was standing up for civil rights.

“We’re here today because we are the patriots, not the ones waving the flag tearing down our democracy, but the ones standing up to protect it,” said Lee. “We are free people, and we intend to stay that way because in the United States of America, there are no kings. There’s only ‘We the people.’”

The Oakland No Kings rally continued with music and dance performances throughout the afternoon. Organizers continued to call for mobilization in the case the Trump administration goes through with its threat to send national guard troops to San Francisco.

Other demonstrations in the Bay Area were organized in Alameda, Mill Valley, Berkeley, Contra Costa County, and several other cities and communities.

In the city of Alameda, a crowd marched to city hall with signs denouncing the administration’s actions on immigration and executive authority. One protester was dressed as Pikachu, while another couple wore strawberry costumes.

The protests came as the administration has engaged in an unprecedented expansion of executive authority, including the president’s use of the military for domestic law enforcement, militarization of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agencies far away from national borders, detention of U.S. citizens without charge and deportations of legal immigrants without due process.

Similar protests in June recorded about 5 million participants. Saturday’s demonstrations were planned in more than 2,700 communities across the nation, according to organizers, which included a broad coalition from the American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible and 50501 (short for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement”).