“No Kings” Protests Fizzle Out

The “No Kings” protests ensued over the weekend with many big blue cities seeing gatherings on Saturday, October 18th. Their website claimed nearly 7 million people joined in across the country and they listed 16 specific cities where notable protests occurred. In my home region of Orlando, a speaker can be heard requesting participants to deactivate Face ID on their phones.

Someone (at the 3 second mark) in the video above can be seen holding a sign that says, “Ice Agents are Terrorists.” The protesters claim to be non-violent however, that has hardly been the case. Jack Posobiec (currently going under the X pseudonym “King Poso”) pointed out Sunday that protestors have been seen dressed up as the alleged Charlie Kirk shooter, Tyler Robinson. Another agitator is seen mocking Charlie Kirk’s death by signaling a gun to their neck in an X post from Ian Miles Chong.

President Trump has resorted to sarcasm and is now embracing the accusation that he is a king. It’s still unclear exactly who these protestors are protesting in a literal sense. They obviously dislike President Trump, but to call him a king is just factually inaccurate. He was democratically elected as president and we will be celebrating the 250th year of not having a king on Independence Day next year.

The crowd in Washington, DC was obviously quite large while Atlanta, GA’s crowd was noticeably small. It’s hard to estimate exactly how many people were in any given city. Although, the “Republicans Against Trump” group was caught faking the crowd size in Boston. They posted a picture from 2017 claiming it was from Saturday.

The gathering in New York City grew large enough to take over Time Square on Saturday. This, less than a month ahead of the likely victory of New York’s first socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani. For reason’s unknown, Mamdani was silent on the protest. Instead, choosing to do canvasing in the Upper East and West sides Saturday, (as seen on X.)

Protestors in San Fracisco opted to blend their No King’s protest with efforts to pass Prop 50. Prop 50 is Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest attempt at radical gerrymandering in response to seats democrats stand to lose in Texas after redistricting there. Many thought California was already redistricted to the max. But, it appears Newsom was not bluffing when saying he’d make up for any seats lost in Texas. The proposed district maps here can be seen spanning hundreds of miles to keep republicans at a disadvantage.

The most violet protest was likely in Portland, OR where riot police were forced to use tear gas. Nick Sorter reported on the ICA facility there that has been surrounded by protestors day and night for a number of months. Trump’s attempt to bring in the National Guard have been delayed due to court rulings and its unclear if or when ICE in Portland will get the backup they so desperately need.

https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1979688771357708482

Overall, the protest were relatively lack-luster compared to years past. No major acts of widespread looting or rioting were reported on the level of what we saw from Antifa during the George Floyd riots of 2020, for example. The next big opportunity for protests to reach a boiling point may be July 4th of next year which gives President Trump plenty of time to make the necessary preparations to maintain order.