On June 14, 2025, millions of Americans took to the streets to protest. Some were upset about the recent tariffs being levied and then rescinded against US allies. Others came to express discomfort over what they saw as an abuse of military power. Still others came to support those in their communities targeted by immigration raids or anti-trans executive orders. But they all had one thing in common: they agreed that in America, there are no kings.
And the message was meant for one man: President Donald Trump.
“King Trump” and the DC Parade
Trump’s 79th birthday landed on the 14th of June, as well as Flag Day. Trump held a military parade that cost millions of dollars, that took place in Washington D.C. Some people didn’t agree with this, because they felt he was doing this to feed his ego.
This birthday celebration of his had been planned for a while, but during the spring, he announced that the event was going to include 60-ton M1 Abram’s battle tanks and Paladin self – propelled howitzers rolling throughout the streets of Washington D.C.
The army had an estimated number of over 6,000 soldiers that participated in the parade. Trump said on his social media “We will celebrate a spectacular military parade in Washington, D.C., like no other.”
Trump claimed that this parade would be one of the biggest and best parades in the country. With all of the criticism that this brought, not as many people attended the parade as originally thought.
The number of people protesting compared to the parade crowd was much different. Over 5 million people protested for ‘No Kings’ while the birthday parade had less than 200,00 people who attended. The Trump administration did not get the number of people they expected. The Trump administration estimated that around 250,000 people would attend the parade, but the outcome was fewer than expected.
How No Kings Became a Thing
While the military parade may have incited the protests, the origin of the nationwide No Kings movement started close to home in Boulder.
In January, news publisher and communications specialist Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos founded American Opposition, a non-profit political action committee dedicated “to counter the rise of fascism in the United States of America.” In February, the group created the Trump Administrative Action Database (TAAD), an online record of all the actions and policies of the Trump administration since his second inauguration. The group also had a hand in supporting the February 28 economic blackout protest and the April 5 Hands Off protest before organizing the No Kings protests.
“I come at [protesting] from the immigrants’ appreciation of how great this country is, how lucky we are,” Álvarez-Aranyos told CBS News. “I think one of the things that’s happened is that the American people became complacent based on our prosperity, and now we’re remembering that this work, this protection, this democracy thing is a participatory event. We have to show up.”
To help people show up, American Opposition partnered with fellow political organizer 50501, which came up with the “No Kings” name for the protest. The two groups launched an aggressive social media campaign that went viral, and while Álvarez-Aranyos knew the protest would be big, the actual turnout surpassed even his wildest expectations.
From Sea to Shining Sea
According to estimates by 50501, nearly 2% of the US population—one out of every fifty people—participated in a No Kings protest on June 14. If these numbers are accurate, then not only did nearly 6 million Americans participate, but the No Kings protest is also now the largest one-day political protest in US history.
Every sizable Colorado city hosted a No Kings protest. Thousands of people gathered around the state capitol in Denver, filling all of the surrounding streets. Several hundred people gathered near each of the state’s large college campuses in Fort Collins, Boulder, Greeley, Pueblo, and Durango. Even conservative strongholds Colorado Springs and Grand Junction each had around 1,000 citizens protesting.
Despite mayors and governors throughout the country ordering the deploying extra police and National Guard members, the protests were mostly peaceful. A single fatality was reported among all the protests: a bystandar named Arthur Folasa Ah Loo was accidentally shot by police at the Salt Lake City protest while they tried to disarm a man aiming a rifle at protestors.
Did the Protest Dethrone Trump?
With this protest being the largest protest in the history of the United States, with over 5 million protestors, there will most likely be more protesting to come. The ‘No Kings’ protesters already have plans for future protests about the Trump administration.
While this protest did not achieve any specific policy changes in the Trump administration, it reached awareness and served as a display of rights.
Due to these protests, Trump has promised an expanded immigration crackdown in several large Democratic cities. He has ordered Ice to stop workplace immigration enforcement actions unless related to criminal investigations.
As well as this, Trump has significantly increased the national guard in Los Angeles, as well as deploying the guard as part of his unprecedented law enforcement takeover in Washington.
As of today, Trump’s deployment of the national guard has been deemed illegal. This deployment mobilized 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles back in June.
These protests erupted a lot of emotion throughout the world, making unforgettable history.
