'No Kings': The left mobilizes to sour Trump's birthday with nationwide rallies

Under the slogan "No Kings," the left is preparing to put a damper on Donald Trump's 79th birthday. Led by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and ACLU, and funded by billionaires such as the Walmart heiress, who went as far as to pay for a full-page ad in The New York Times promoting the call, numerous organizations have joined the initiative to organize demonstrations on June 14 in protest against the president's policies. The existing tension over the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles has served to further strengthen the call for this initiative and raises fears of possible violent incidents.

Although the organization officially calling for the demonstration calls itself the 50501 Movement (in reference to 50 states, 50 protests, one movement), the weight of the preparations is in the hands of the AFT, whose leader, Randi Weingarten, has set herself up as the visible face of the movement. According to its website, some 1,800 marches have already been prepared across the country except in Washington, D.C., where the military parade will take place and Trump has threatened particularly harsh sanctions.

Megalomania or homage to the Army and the flag?

The initiative was born out of Trump's decision to hold a military parade in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army with a massive parade in Washington including tanks and aircraft. The day coincides with the president's birthday and Flag Day, so organizers point to it as an act of megalomania by the president as a show of might.

"No thrones. No crowns. No kings"

In a statement, the organizers, noted that this is a protest in the face of "the growing excesses and corruption of the Trump Administration. They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings."

"NO KINGS is a national day of mass action and mobilization in response to the growing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump Administration. We have seen them crack down on free speech, detain people for their political positions, threaten to deport U.S. citizens, and defy the courts. All while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies. They think they rule, but we are bigger even than their worst aspirations," they continued.

The statement, moreover, also takes aim at Flag Day and its use by Trump: "The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making it. We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind."

Calls for peaceful demonstrations... by those who consider L.A. protests "peaceful"

Organizers issued a statement on the unrest in Los Angeles and its contagion to other cities across the country. In the face of concern that the "No Kings" demonstrations could become a powder keg across the nation at the hands of violent groups organized within the rallies, No Kings assured that the movement is a "peaceful call" where violence has no place.

The problem is that the same statement claims the protests that ended in riots in California were "peaceful." The group charged against the federal administration's response, which it goes so far as to describe as "abuse of power":

"Instead of listening, the Trump Administration is escalating tensions. Against the guidance of local leaders, they are deploying military force to suppress free speech. They do not care about our safety—it’s about silencing opposition. It’s a blatant abuse of power designed to intimidate families, stoke fear, and crush dissent," it said.

“The No Kings mobilizations on June 14 were already planned as a peaceful stand against authoritarian overreach and the gross abuse of power this Administration has shown. Now, this military escalation only confirms what we’ve known: this government wants to rule by force, not serve the people. From major cities to small towns, we’ll rise together and say: we reject political violence. We reject fear as governance. We reject the myth that only some deserve freedom."