Nation Mobilizes for No Kings Day. Events Planned Throughout WMASS
Photo: 50501 Movement
Protests Proliferate Nationwide Against Troop Deployments in Los Angeles
More than 2100 events have been planned across the nation for Saturday, June 14, including more than a dozen in Western Massachusetts, for No Kings Day, a national mobilization to protest the Trump regime’s assault on democracy. Community Organizer K. Starling has estimated the national turnout will be in the neighborhood of 5.7 million people
The protests coincide with a large military parade to be held in Washington, D.C. on the same day, involving 6700 uniformed troops, 150 combat vehicles, and 50 helicopters at an estimated cost of $40 million. The parade has been planned to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the army as well as President Trump’s 79th birthday which also falls on June 14.
The protests have been explicitly promoted as peaceful but Trump has said that any protests of the parade in Washington D.C. will be met with “very heavy force.”
National Day of Action and Mobilization
No Kings Day is intended to be a national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration. Organizers have stated (see also here):
The Trump administration is taking our tax dollars to throw himself an attempted authoritarian birthday party. They’ve cracked down on free speech, detained people for their political views, threatened to deport American citizens, terrorized immigrant families, restricted the rights of trans people, and defied the courts. They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies. They ignore the demands for affordable homes, quality schools, and well-funded safe communities that are the main concern of communities around the country. When we join together with strangers, friends, and neighbors and say NO to the excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies and YES to investing in everyday people, we are drowning out his attempts to divide and silence us.”
On June 14—Flag Day—President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.
No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.
We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind.
The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it.
On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.
Writing in The American Prospect, Harold Meyerson said of No Kings Day:
No Kings” is a slogan, a template, that rightly associates Trump’s rule with the monarchical system against which the patriots of 1775 rebelled, but that’s no longer the only aspect of 1775 that Saturday’s demonstrations should call to mind. June 14, 1775 was the day America created an army to defend itself against an alien force seizing Americans to suppress their right to home rule and to security in their own homes and workplaces. On June 14, 2025, Americans will be demonstrating across this country against not just our wannabe king, but against his decision to deploy our own armed forces to seize community members, suppress home, and trash the constitutional rights which Americans fought long and hard to secure. They’ll be demonstrating against Trump’s decision to turn our army into a domestic army of occupation, into neo-redcoats.
The protests have been organized by the 50501 movement and Indivisible and hundreds of local organizations.
In Western Massachusetts, No Kings rallies will be held in Agawam, Amherst, Ashfield, Barre, Becket, Belchertown, Granby, Greenfield Haydenville, Northampton, Orange, Palmer, Pittsfield, Springfield and Westfield. Find the most current listing of Western Mass events here. Find a listing of all national events here.
Springfield Rally
Indivisible – Swing Left Western Mass is organizing a big rally at the Federal Building, 300 State Street in Springfield from noon – 2 p,m. in partnership with three other local grassroots groups:
- Rise Up Western MA Indivisible (RUWMI),
- Defending Democracy in Hampden County (DDHC) and
- Northampton Resists
The rally will feature diverse and inspiring speakers, music, and great energy. The public is encouraged to “bring signs and flags and friends to come together in peaceful, joyful, powerful presence” and “show what true patriotism looks like and, amidst the cruel and greedy power grabs of the Trump regime.”
Speakers include constitutional lawyer, John Bonifaz; Veteran, John Paradis; statements from Senators Warren & Markey, Sen. Adam Gomez, Councilwoman Zaida Govan, and Dr. Carrie Baker; Reps of Young Feminist Party, Mass Senior Action council, Springfield No One Leaves; Western MA Solidarity & Action, Climate Action Now, and more.
No Kings Amherst
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Kendrick Park, 4 East Pleasant Street.
Join movers and shakers in Amherst who will lead group dancing in the park, an antidote to the division and fear this administration sows. This event will be family-friendly and in the spirit of “why not, let’s try it?” Organizers want this event to be loud and expressive, so bring signs to place around the dance floor that express what you’re angry about, the kind of community you long for, what you demand, and what we can build together! Bring a visible legacy of fighting for democracy and fairness with you. Wear T-shirts with the faces or words of your favorite changemakers or dress up in their honor!
No Kings Northampton
10:30 a.m. – Noon, City Hall, 210 Main Street
Organizers from the Young Feminist Party Amherst have planned a rally in front of City Hall. Speakers include Congressman Jim McGovern, State Representative Lindsay Sabadosa, youth activists Alice Jenkins, Joey Pisani and Marisol Pierce Bonifaz, and others. Musical performance by the Raging Grannies.
Protests Against the Military Deployment in Los Angeles Proliferate
Protests against Trump’s illegal deployment of federal troops in Los Angeles are spreading across the nation. See NBC News: As Immigration Raids Continue, ICE Protests Spread Coast to Coast and NPR, Protests Grow Across the US as People Push Against Trump’s Mass Deportation Policies. Per NBC, last week there were 25 protests in a dozen states against the illegal deployment of troops in Los Angeles. The protests are taking place in red and blue states alike, including Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
