No Kings Protest Trump
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – More than a dozen organized protests took place throughout Riverside County Saturday under the “No Kings” banner, continuing a movement that began earlier this year to denounce the Trump administration’s policies.
Organizers encouraged demonstrators to make their voices heard with signs, slogans and recruitment drives, but not by way of violent confrontations or other law breaking.
Similar rallies in June, which like Saturday coincided with larger demonstrations nationwide, drew several thousand people to Riverside, Moreno Valley and multiple other communities countywide, none of which spawned mass arrests or widespread vandalism.
“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action,” according to a statement posted to NoKings.org. “We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, framed the protests as a “Hate America rally.”
“Let’s see who shows up for that,” he said publicly. “I bet you see the Marxists in full display. The people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic, and that’s what we’re here doing every single day.”
No Kings organizers countered in a statement that the speaker and House Republicans were “running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down.”
“Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans, who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings,” the organization stated.
In Cathedral City, dozens of people gathered with signs such as “Keep the immigrants, deport the racists” and “Nobody voted for cruelty, corruption and incompetence.”
A few hundred people gathered in Hemet to protest, and dozens in Beaumont.
Temecula’s protest was large, with hundreds of people gathered on all four corners of the Ynez and Rancho California Roads intersection. As cars drove by honking, protesters waved upside-down U.S. flags and held signs reading “reject fascism.”
In Corona, a few hundred people gathered for multiple blocks of Ontario Avenue with signs reading “fight for those w/o your privilege” and “Yes on 50!”
The Palm Desert and Menifee protests were also large with hundreds of people at each holding signs that read “release the Epstein files” and “`Don’t make me repeat myself’ – history.”
No arrests or violent acts were reported as of Saturday afternoon.
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