Anti-Trump ‘No Kings' rallies begin in South Florida in national day of protests

The first demonstrators gathered throughout South Florida Saturday morning as part of a national day of rallies against what protesters see as President Donald Trump's excessive accumulation of executive power.
At Phipps Skate Park in West Palm Beach, just over a mile from the president's Palm Beach home of Mar-a-Lago, about 300 people gathered by 10 a.m., carrying signs and waving American flags. To the sound of a banging a drum, they cheered and chanted 'No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA' and carried signs that read 'SILENCE = COMPLIANCE ABOLISH ICE NOW,' 'and 'NO FAUX KING WAY.'
The robust early turnout came as a relief to one demonstrator, Peter Smith, 29, who had worried that people weren't speaking out enough as the country went down a 'dark path' toward fascism.
'Throwing a North Korea-style military parade in the U.S. is ridiculous,' he said. 'Mass deportations are ridiculous. Taking armed and armored ICE agents into schools, workplaces restaurants. It all looks like fascism and we need to do everything we can to stop it.'
Organized by a coalition of liberal groups under the 'No Kings' banner, an estimated 2,000 demonstrations are planned across the United States to coincide with Trump's birthday and the spectacle of a military parade through Washington, D.C.
Major demonstrations planned in South Florida include a march from Phipps Skate Park to Mar-a-Lago, a rally at Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach and a rally at Sunrise Boulevard on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Other demonstrations are planned in Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Miami, among other cities.
Anti-Trump protests will unfold across South Florida this weekend. Here's what to expect
At Phipps Skate Park, Paulina Parraga, a former American history teacher, said her main concern Saturday aside from immigration was Trump's disregard for due process.
'The fact that he really believes he's above the law,' she said. 'And fact that he has no respect for the Constitution.'
She brought her daughter in law, Tania Beltran, a recent immigrant from Colombia, and Tania's sister, Sara Beltran, who was visiting from Colombia. Before heading out Saturday, they wondered whether they should bring their passports, despite Beltran being a legal immigrant and Parraga, the daughter of Colombian immigrants, being a U.S. citizen.
'I'm an immigrant,' Tania Beltran said. 'Trump hates immigrants … Everyone knows the people — they are the more hard workers are the immigrants. They are the ones that do the jobs no one wants to do.'
As organizers gathered protesters at the park to prepare for the march to Mar-a-Lago, Ram Om, 67, waved a tattered American flag at cars on South Dixie Highway.
'That's the condition of our country right now,' he said, referring to the flag. 'It's getting beat up, it's getting torn apart, and there's no place but down in the trajectory that we're going right now.'
Shalon Bull, a Palm Beach County science teacher, attended with her two daughters to protest what she saw as Trump's attacks on science and education.
'There are reasonable, educated citizens that want a better tomorrow based on evidence, based on science, based on fairness and compassion for others, and democracy,' she said.
On the beach in Fort Lauderdale, about 80 people arrived early for a demonstration planned at Sunrise Boulevard and State Road A1A. Barricades lined the road separating the east sidewalk from the street. There was a cacophony of car horns in response to signs carried by demonstrators that read 'Honk to impeach.' Other signs read, 'Make Tacos Great Again,' No Kings Since 1776,' and 'The Real Criminal is in the White House.'
A boat parade to celebrate Trump's birthday will take place on the Intracoastal Waterway from Jupiter Inlet to Mar-a-Lago, an event that has been held annually.
Leaders of the demonstrations have promised the events would be peaceful. But Florida's Republican leaders, pointing to the violence that attended some of the pro-immigrant protests in Los Angeles, warned demonstrators that any violence would meet an aggressive response.
During an interview this week with a conservative podcast host, Gov. Ron DeSantis told motorists that if 'a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety. And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you. You don't have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.'
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warned in a news conference Thursday that any rioters would face arrest. At the same news conference, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned that violent protesters could face a lethal response from law enforcement.
'Throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at,' he said. 'Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We're not going to play.'
South Florida police agencies remained on the alert with ramped-up street patrols.
Fort Lauderdale Police spokeswoman Casey Liening said in a prepared statement that the department was 'aware of multiple demonstrations' on Saturday.
'There will be a noticeable law enforcement presence and officers will be monitoring all events closely to ensure the safety of participants, motorists, and our residents,' Liening said. 'We urge participants to immediately report suspicious or nefarious activity. Safety will always be our top priority.'
West Palm Beach Police said in a statement Friday that residents should expect 'significant traffic delays in the downtown area on Saturday, June 14, due to planned demonstrations. The events are expected to draw large crowds, and several roadways may be impacted by heavier-than-normal traffic … The West Palm Beach Police Department supports everyone's right to peaceful assembly and is committed to ensuring the safety of all participants and members of the public. Please stay aware of your surroundings.'
This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

CBS News

36 minutes ago

• CBS News

Mother of Bronx high school student detained by ICE says family now lives in fear

Saturday marks one month since a Bronx high school student was taken into United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody following an immigration hearing. Dylan, 20, was the first New York City public school student that we know of to be detained as part of the Trump administration's ramped-up enforcement. It was the first high-profile arrest of its kind, not only sparking outrage and protests in the city, but giving us a glimpse at the strategies that federal agents are now using regularly – dismissing cases in immigration court before immigrants or those seeking asylum are detained and brought to parts unknown. "The conditions in the facility are deplorable" Dylan's mother, Raiza, spoke exclusively to CBS News New York's Doug Williams about the day she watched agents take her son away in handcuffs. "We were leaving the hearing, but as we walked towards the elevator, we noticed these two men who were following us. They told us to move towards the right side and that we were arrested. I told my son, 'It's ICE,'" Raiza said in Spanish. "They were violent." Raiza says Dylan was helping her raise his younger siblings, who are 7 and 10 years old, and it has been difficult to be without him. "I'm a single mom and he is my support," she said. The lawyers who represent the family say after his detainment, Dylan went from New York City to New Jersey, then to Texas, then to Louisiana, then to Pennsylvania, where he is now. Raiza said she spoke to Dylan as recently as Thursday. "A few days ago he told me they gave him rotten eggs for breakfast and he didn't eat them. Many times the food is spoiled," she said. "The conditions in the facility are deplorable. There are worms in the sink, and it's what they use to drink water ... He's felt sick, but instead of giving him meds, they just yell." A Department of Homeland Security official said in a statement, in part, "ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody." DHS added that Dylan is "an illegal alien from Venezuela who illegally entered the U.S. more than one year ago." "This is unjust" Raiza was asked if this experience has changed how she feels about what America represents as a country and a place to live. "We are trying to do things well, follow the law, and for this to happen, makes us fearful. This is unjust," she said. Raiza said her days are spent working to bring her son home, but at night, she is left to think about how far away her son still is. She was emotional when asked how she's been able to sleep. "I wait for his call at night. I pray to God for justice," she said. Dylan has a court date set for early July.

USA Today

38 minutes ago

• USA Today

Trump orders ICE arrests in NYC, LA, Chicago: See how many immigrants live in major metros

In a lengthy June 15 Truth Social post, President Donald Trump called for the "largest mass deportation program in history," calling on ICE officers to expand detentions and deportations in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, which he described as part of "the core of the Democrat Power Center." The post came after a weekend of nationwide "No King's Day protests and a military parade in the nation's capital to celebrate the Army's 250th birthday, a day that coincided with Trump's 79th birthday. According to U.S. Census data, The New York metro area has the nation's largest foreign-born population, followed by Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Chicago. Trump did not mention Miami or Houston in his post, though they have some of the nation's largest foreign-born populations. Which cities have the most immigrants? Across the nation, immigrants make up roughly 14% of the population, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly two-thirds of foreign-born residents live in 20 major metropolitan areas, the Pew Research Center reported. The New York, Los Angeles and Miami metro areas had the largest population of immigrants. About 60% of the nation's undocumented population lives in these same metro areas. Immigrants make up 19.2% of the civilian labor force. Immigrant workers made up 28.6% of all people employed in the construction industry, according to the Census Bureau. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. Of that amount, $59.4 billion was paid to the federal government, and the remaining $37.3 billion was paid to state and local governments. The U.S. Census American Community Survey of 2023 collected data on the cities Trump mentioned and the others in the top five. Here's the demographic breakdown: Los Angeles City Census Bureau data shows nearly half of Los Angeles' population is Hispanic or Latino, and a third of all residents living there are immigrants. This includes foreign-born U.S. citizens and noncitizens. Although the exact count of undocumented immigrants in the city is not known, a 2020 study by University of Southern California Dornsife, estimated about 900,000 people in Los Angeles were undocumented and that most had been in the United States for 10 years or more. According to the nonprofit California Budget and Policy Center, immigrants make up roughly one-third of workers in the state, comprising an outsize share of the workforce in physically intense sectors like construction and agriculture. Economists say having fewer immigrants in the United States could weaken the economy, causing labor shortages and slowing economic growth. A 2024 analysis from Jamshid Damooei, executive director at the Center for Economics of Social Issues at California Lutheran University, found that work from undocumented employees created an additional 1.25 million jobs in California. 37.9% of Los Angeles-area workers were immigrants in 2023, according to USAFacts. Chicago Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker defended sanctuary laws protecting undocumented immigrants at a congressional hearing June 12. 'Safe and compassionate immigration policies, I believe, are vital. In fact, my own family owes everything to this country accepting a young refugee named Nicholas Pritzker to its shores over a century ago," he said. The Illinois TRUST Act prohibits state and local law enforcement from arresting, searching or detaining a person because of their immigration status. The law prohibits local police from cooperating with federal immigration officers, with some exceptions. 23% of Chicago-area workers were immigrants in 2023, according to USAFacts. New York City ICE recently arrested New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander as he attempted to escort a man out of immigration court. The arrest, which went viral, is the latest standoff between federal agents and Democratic officials opposed to the Trump administration's tactics to detain mass numbers of of 2022, an estimated 412,000 undocumented immigrants lived in the city, according to the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. That's a decline of 32% from 2012. Immigrants make up nearly 40% of the total population in New York City. Immigrants made up 44.3% of the city's total labor force − more than double the national share of 18.6%, according to the New York State Comptroller's Office.'Many industries in the city depend on these workers, including construction, where foreign-born workers made up almost 70% of all workers, while 65% worked in transportation and utilities, and nearly 55% worked in manufacturing,' the report said. In 2023, 36.8% of New York-area workers were immigrants in 2023, according to USAFacts. Miami Miami recently voted to enter a 287(g) agreement with federal immigration authorities. The partnership will allow local Miami police to enforce federal immigration laws. Local and state police in Florida already have 292 signed and pending agreements, the most of any state. Miami is home to more than 252,000 immigrants, representing 55% of the city's total population, according to the Census Bureau. In 2023, 50.7% of Miami-area workers are were immigrants in 2023, according to USAFacts. Houston Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign legislation that requires all county police to sign agreements with ICE, according to the Houston Chronicle. The partnership with federal immigration officials would allow local police to investigate the immigration status of people in their 70 counties in Texas already signed 287(g) agreements as of June. About 24% of Houston's population are immigrants, according to Census Bureau data. Immigrants make up nearly a third of the Houston workforce, according to the nonprofit American Immigration Council. As of 2023, 31% of Houston-area workers were immigrants, according to USAFacts. Read more: More than 600 local police agencies are partnering with ICE: See if yours is one of them

New York Post

an hour ago

• New York Post

Seattle journalists attacked by agitators call out far-left media for covering up violence at protests

Two independent journalists who say they were assaulted while covering immigration protests in Seattle accused local media outlets and city leaders of turning a blind eye to violence from the radical far-left agitators. Cameron Higby is an investigative journalist who focuses mostly on protests, especially those of the violent variant. He described his scary encounter at an anti-ICE rally in downtown Seattle in detail with Fox News Digital. Advertisement As evening fell, he said Antifa took over streets downtown and became violent. Videos posted to his social media show rioters trying to break into buildings and blocking cars from being able to proceed through the area. Higby said that Antifa stopped drivers and demanded they say, 'F— ICE' and lit fires under the cars of drivers who wouldn't comply. One video clip shows rioters hurling an object at a car that tried to escape. According to him, one woman was 'so terrified that she abandoned her vehicle in traffic.' 4 Independent journalist Cameron Higby was filmed being thrown to the ground, punched and kicked by masked protesters in Seattle on June 14, 2025. X/camhigby Advertisement Once Antifa returned to the federal building, Higby said things quieted down, so he sat down on the sidewalk. Even though he was dressed like Antifa and wearing a gas mask, he was identified by one man who told him to leave. 'Before I could stand up I was pinned up against a wall,' he said. Higby said three men approached and tried to remove his mask and helmet. 'Then I was picked up by somebody and was choked out, punched in the head twice with sap gloves, which are filled with steel or lead shot. And then he kicked me in the face. I pepper sprayed him and he ran away. They then later found a black Jeep Wrangler that they thought belonged to me. They destroyed it, and the poor guy had to drive his car home with a busted windshield,' Higby recalled. Advertisement 'I ended up with a concussion, nausea, dizziness, ringing in the ears, light flashes, and some headaches. I had to go to the ER and urgent care.' Higby is no stranger to violent behavior at protests he's covered in the past – sharing that one day he was bear sprayed at 'point-blank.' But he said this weekend's assault left him shaken like never before. Higby said three men approached and tried to remove his mask and helmet. 'This is definitely the worst attack I've had on me, depending on how you look at it. I've been assaulted a lot, probably more times than I could count. This is probably the most violent assault. If I wasn't wearing a helmet, I'd probably be dead or in the hospital in critical condition. I mean the staff clubs are like brass knuckles basically. The helmet's dented and he punched me so hard that if you slow the video down you can see the filter of the gas mask actually fly off just from the impact of the hit.' Advertisement 'This literally could've killed me,' he said of the assault, which video only captured after it was already underway. 'If one of my friends hadn't grabbed him and pulled him back, if that hadn't happened, he probably would have kept going.' 'Thankfully, I was able to grab my car keys and my phone and all that. Otherwise, even if I managed to get away, I would have been stranded. I couldn't contact anybody, I wouldn't be able to drive my car,' Higby added. Higby claimed that his sources told him the Seattle Police Department was told not to intervene in the protest – a decision he said would have come from city officials. 'There is a detective on the case now. So it's an extremely slow crawl, and we've just had to twist the arm of the SPD,' he said. 'I don't have any animosity towards the rank-and-file police officers… I know SPD wants to take care of this problem, but they just can't.' The Seattle PD confirmed to Fox News Digital that Higby filed a police report. As for media coverage, Higby said the local media 'hasn't covered anything about it,' and The Seattle Times, along with Mayor Bruce Harrell, 'said everything was peaceful, it's all good.' Brandi Kruse is another local, independent journalist who was attacked by masked protesters on Saturday at an anti-ICE protest in Tukwila, Washington, just south of Seattle. 4 Journalist Brandi Kruse is followed and heckled by Antifa during an immigration protest. Youtube/unDivided with Brandi Kruse 4 While the 'No Kings' protest had remained peaceful, things quickly escalated into violence after Kruse arrived at the DHS Antifa protest. Youtube/unDivided with Brandi Kruse Advertisement She was out covering the anti-Trump 'No Kings' protest in the city that day when her team heard that Antifa was planning to try to disrupt immigration enforcement activities outside a Department of Homeland Security facility in Tukwila. While the 'No Kings' protest had remained peaceful, things quickly escalated into violence after Kruse arrived at the DHS Antifa protest. 'At that point, there hadn't been any sort of confrontations between police and these protesters,' she recalled. 'I would say it took less than two minutes for the assaults to start. So we didn't even really get a chance to do any reporting on the ground there because, within moments, this group was mobbing us.' Video of the encounter that Kruse posted to YouTube shows protesters spraying her with water and trying to block her camera with black umbrellas and protest signs. Several people surrounded Kruse and her armed security member while chanting, 'F— you, fascist,' and 'Nazi.' As Kruse and her team walks away from the crowd to create some distance, they continued to follow her and harass her, she says. Advertisement 'They had no interest in leaving me alone. They kept yelling at me to leave,' she continued. Kruse said a woman dumped a full water bottle on her head, a few people hit her from behind with their signs and one man ran at them and sprayed insecticide in her face as her team tried to get away. 'This thing sprayed a pretty far distance and it burned immediately. And that person followed us for maybe 10, 20 feet, just continuing to spray us in the face with what we later found out was hornet killer,' Kruse explained. 4 Several people surrounded Kruse and her armed security member while chanting, 'F— you, fascist,' and 'Nazi.' Facebook/Brandi Kruse Things turned violent after an undercover army veteran offered assistance to Kruse and her team. Advertisement 'As soon as Antifa realized that this army veteran was with us they pounced on him,' she said. 'There's this part of the video that shows them knocking him to the ground. There's maybe six or seven black-clad Antifa members, and they're kicking him. They're stomping him. It was absolutely brutal.' She said one person threatened the man with a gun before Kruse's security was able to pull the 'innocent bystander' out. Another civilian drove up at this moment and rescued the three from the violent crowd. 'At that point, I didn't really know the driver, but I knew that it was probably better than the situation we're in. So we pile in with this guy, and we just take off as they're pelting his vehicle with who knows what,' she said. Kruse filed a police report with the Tukwila PD afterward. The police confirmed to Fox News Digital a report had been filed, and an investigation was ongoing. Advertisement Kruse is familiar with these protests, having covered them extensively in her 15-year journalism career. She previously worked at a Fox affiliate in Seattle for several years and now hosts a political commentary show called 'Undivided.' In her experience, it's not unusual for Antifa to attack journalists or 'anyone who is exposing their criminal conduct.' She said she was previously assaulted by Antifa during the 2020 summer of protests when the group took over parts of the city. Kruse recalls this experience in the new Fox Nation streaming series, 'Summer of Chaos: Inside Seattle's CHOP Zone.' Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! 'This is a very violent faction of left-wing extremists with a long history of assaulting journalists in Seattle, including myself,' Kruse said. She accused local left-wing outlets like The Seattle Times of covering for violent extremists. On Saturday night, the paper published a report on the protest without mentioning the violence by the protesters. Their report documents Tukwila Police using tear gas against protesters and frames law enforcement as the instigators of violence. 'If you'd just read The Seattle Times article, you would think that the police unleashed on peaceful demonstrators,' Kruse said. 'So you have these media outlets that absolutely cover for violent left-wing extremists. And so Antifa doesn't target them in the same way, because why would they?'