"We Don't Need a King" 'No Kings' Protests Sweep the U.S. and the World..."Estimated 9 Million in the U.S. Alone"

[The Financial News]

The "No Kings" protests, opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s unchecked abuse of power, flared up again across the U.S. on the 28th (local time). Fueled by growing opposition to war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the No Kings protests spread to Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

According to CBS News, Cable News Network (CNN), and other foreign media, large numbers of citizens took to the streets across the U.S. and in Europe to protest both the war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and President Trump’s overreach.
Organizers said that more than 3,100 No Kings events would be held across all 50 U.S. states and projected that roughly 9 million people would take part.
The scale has continued to grow, from 5 million participants in June last year to 7 million in October.
Notably, the anti-Trump protests spread beyond major cities into Republican strongholds such as Idaho and Louisiana, as well as suburban areas in swing states.

At the heart of the protests was Minnesota, where two civilians were killed by gunfire from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to CBS News, large crowds in St. Paul, Minnesota, turned out to demonstrate and chant slogans. St. Paul is the state capital and a major city separated from Minneapolis by the Mississippi River; together the two are known as the Twin Cities.
CBS News reported that some protesters held the Stars and Stripes upside down, a gesture that has historically signaled distress and symbolized resistance.
At the St. Paul rally, pop star Bruce Springsteen took the stage and performed "Streets of Minneapolis." He wrote the song in memory of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by ICE gunfire. He dedicated the song to the Minnesota residents who had gathered in the cold winter to protest the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdowns.
Before singing, Springsteen expressed his condolences over the deaths of Good and Pretti, and said that people’s continued resistance to ICE had given hope to the rest of the U.S.
“Your steadfastness and resolve tell us that this is still America,” he said, declaring, “This reactionary nightmare and this invasion of American cities have no place here.”
Folk singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda, and Senator Bernie Sanders were among the high-profile figures who joined the St. Paul protest.

The protesters’ primary demand was an end to the war with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
They opposed the Trump administration’s "Operation Epic Fury," warning that it would escalate beyond precision strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities into a full-scale war.
On the same day, as it was confirmed that additional troops had been deployed to the Middle East, protesters strongly opposed any ground troop deployment. They warned that strategies requiring ground forces—such as seizing Iranian oil storage facilities or occupying Kharg Island—would become another Iraq War, or an even more horrific quagmire.
In Washington, D.C., protesters highlighted that the U.S. Constitution requires a declaration of war by Congress, yet Trump was seeking to escalate the conflict unilaterally, sidestepping the legislature. Opposing what they called this "monarchical behavior," they chanted, "Put down the crown, clown."
They also argued that changing the government at home should come before any attempt at regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran, chanting, "Regime change begins at home."
Protesters also voiced opposition to aggressive immigration raids and deportations.

In Canada, which shares a border with the U.S., protests were held in the major cities of Toronto and Vancouver. Canadian demonstrators also chanted the "No Kings" slogan.
In the U.S. "backyard" to the south—Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and other countries in the Americas—protesters in major cities criticized U.S. interventionism.
Across the ocean in Europe, demonstrators in Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and London in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) chanted, "No Kings, No War."
In Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, protesters also shouted anti-war slogans, while large demonstrations in Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia and other Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia condemned attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The White House, however, dismissed the mass protests as a scheme orchestrated by the "left" rather than a reflection of public sentiment. It derided them as the product of a left-wing funding network and sneered that they were a "Trump-hatred therapy session" for people who loathe the president.


dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter