AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
People took to the streets yesterday to protest a wide range of President Trump's policies. Across all 50 states and here in Washington, people joined nearly 2,000 marches and rallies as part of the so-called No Kings Day. Organizers estimate millions attended. NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán is in New York City and joins us now. Hi, Sergio.
SERGIO MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: So New York City's protest was one of the biggest. Tell us what you saw and what you heard from the people attending.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Yeah, it was a peaceful march, and it was huge. NYPD estimated the crowd at 50,000. There was music, lots of creative signs, and all of that was despite the rain. We talked to Pamela Booker (ph). She's from New Jersey, and this is the message she hopes President Trump gets from yesterday's marches.
PAMELA BOOKER: I love that it's a countermessage, to, you want attention on your birthday. This is what it looks like.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Booker sees Saturday's protests as important opposition to the military parade marking the Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's birthday. Now, President Trump has rejected the characterization that he's behaving like a king and says he has to, quote, "go through hell to get stuff approved," end quote.
RASCOE: Besides protesting the president's military parade, why else were people in the streets yesterday?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Ayesha, the list is pretty long, right? The big one, though, is that for many folks, the actions of President Trump is mirroring authoritarian regimes. For others, like Charito Marquez (ph), the motivating factor was the president's immigration policies and the mass raids that have happened all across the country, particularly in Los Angeles.
CHARITO MARQUEZ: I just hope people wake up and realize how inhumane it is to tear families apart and that everybody who comes here is just wishing for a better life.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: We also talked to people who have lost their jobs because of cuts in the federal government. So diverse claims all directed to the same person - President Trump.
RASCOE: These protests happened all across the country, but what was the mood outside of New York?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: It was similar. Lots of people were chanting, cheering. Lots of American flags in the crowds, as well. In Anchorage, Alaska, Camille Jones (ph) brought a homemade sign to the protest.
CAMILLE JONES: My sign says, the only king I want is a king salmon, because here in Alaska, the only kind of king we're interested in is the kind that's good for us and the kind that we can eat.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Demonstrating in Grand Junction, Colorado, was 69 years old Bob Rochama (ph). He's a veteran and formerly a Republican.
BOB ROCHAMA: Trump has been gutting the Veterans Administration, and so it's real important to me that we stop him. We stop him on that. We stop him on immigration. We stop him on the economy that he's ruining.
RASCOE: Things did turn tense in Los Angeles yesterday. What was the scene there?
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: Right. This was after the official No Kings protest in downtown LA ended. That was peaceful, but hundreds kept protesting for hours before the curfew. A small group of protesters clashed with police, leading to an unlawful assembly declared for everyone. Then law enforcement deployed tear gas to control the crowd. And, you know, we've seen that in other places - right? - that stragglers taunt law enforcement, escalating tension and often leading to arrests. Separately, Ayesha, there was a shooting at a No Kings event in Salt Lake City. One person was critically injured, and three people were arrested. Still, nearly all of the No Kings events were peaceful.
RASCOE: NPR's Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, thank you so much.
MARTÍNEZ-BELTRÁN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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