Federal officers use gas against protesters outside Ice facility
While the main protest march in downtown Portland, Oregon, was peaceful and local police officers helped block off streets and bridges for the marchers, a smaller protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city’s south waterfront neighborhood has already been met with force by federal officers.
Suzette Smith of the Portland Mercury reports on Bluesky that federal agents hurled gas canisters at protesters who gathered at the facility before a scheduled 5pm protest.
At the main rally, earlier in the afternoon, one of the organizers, Malcom Gregory Scott, a veteran and long-time activist, reminded the crowd that “Indivisible and 50501 did not organize today’s sunset protest at Ice. Our safety precautions and volunteers will not be in place, and no one should protest at ICE unless they accept the risks of possible detention, arrest, and injury.”
“So those who cannot support those who can,” he added, “and the young nonviolent protesters who take those risks every day— they are the iconic heroes of our times! They’re the vanguard, the sharp-witted tip of our absurdist proverbial spear! Let’s hear it for these fearless patriots! We need their courage now more than ever!”
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Closing summary
More than 2,700 demonstrations are taking place throughout the US in protest of the Trump administration, dubbed the No Kings protest. The previous iteration that marched in June was one of the largest single days of protest in US history, and today looks to closely match that record.
Indeed, San Francisco’s downtown No Kings march surpassed the number of participants at its June march as people again gathered at Ocean Beach to recreate the “No Kings” sign with their bodies.
Portland delivered a carnival atmosphere in the face of Donald Trump’s prediction of riots. An estimated 40,000 people marched through the city resplendent in inflatable animal costumes.
The march and rally in Atlanta, Georgia, drew an estimated 10,000 people including the senator Raphael Warnock and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.
Chicago’s protest stretched on for 2 miles and wound past Trump Tower, where several marchers flipped off the building. The Chicago Tribune reported an estimated 100,000 people attended.
Republican governors in several US states placed national guard troops on standby in preparation for the nationwide protests. Governors in Texas and Virginia activated their state’s national guard troops.
Before the protests expected across all 50 states on Saturday, several protests in solidarity popped up across Europe.
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Donald Trump told Fox News, “I’m not a king,” as millions across the US were about to march against his second presidency, uniting behind a message that the nation should halt its slide toward authoritarianism.
This will conclude our coverage of the No Kings marches and rallies taking place across the nation today. Read here for more coverage.
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