Tallahassee ‘No Kings’ Protest Draws Thousands

On June 14th, in Tallahassee, a woman on the steps of the Historic State Capitol with a microphone yelled, “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do?” Thousands yelled back, “Stand up! Fight back!”

Sign holding protestors called for everything from the destruction of ICE, to the overthrow of Trump, and the protection of Social Security and Medicaid. Above the crowd, someone waved a cardboard sign reading, “Americans Are Angry.” That sign summed up the mood well.

Following the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles, all eyes were on the over-2000 No Kings protests appearing everywhere from Mississippi, to Montana, to Malawi. In Florida alone, there were 22 protests. According to the No Kings website, these protests were a national “day of defiance” against President Donald Trump’s military parade to celebrate the military’s 250th birthday. Tallahassee’s No Kings protest drew thousands.

The protests were organized by The Indivisible Project. Founded by Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin, the group began as a response to Donald Trump’s first election but has quickly transformed into a national movement of 2,200 chapters appearing in all fifty states. Their network of grassroots groups works to “ defeat the rightwing takeover of American government, and win an inclusive democracy and bold progressive policies.”

Indivisible has come under fire recently for taking money from liberal dark money groups like George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and the Arabella Advisors network of funds. Critics have called them “the kings and queens of the Democratic political machine summoning their minions to take to the streets to feign a fake people’s revolution.”

At the Tallahassee protest, Margaret Clark, who runs the Tallahassee chapter of Indivisible, estimated that there were 3,000 to 4,000 people at the protest — a significant increase from their ‘Hands Off’ protest which drew 2,000. She was also excited to see a more diverse demographic. Past protests grew a predominantly older crowd, but this one contained people of all ages.

One man said he had to come out to see the protests out of curiosity. “I definitely see some signs I don’t agree with,” he told me. “I’m definitely anti-king though.”

Sabrina Hartley, a media director for Indivisible Tallahassee, told me that she was grateful for a peaceful and smooth protest. “We want everyone to get along. We want to get along with the police.” If you looked up, you could catch glimpses of military and police personnel keeping watch from the tops of buildings.

At one point a small group of men walked through the protest wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and holding up a picture of assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Some protestors booed them, but they were able to walk through the crowd undisturbed.

A number of political figures made appearances. Ryan Ra, who heads the Leon County Democratic Party, said “Our town is coming together in a major way in the face of Far Right extremism in high office.”

While the chair of the Republican Party of Florida Evan Power criticized the protest, “They don’t understand that Floridians want safety, not chaos. We want a secure border, law and order, and leaders who respect this country — not those who rally mobs.”