By MIKE BAKER, SEAN KEENAN and RICK ROJAS NYTimes News Service
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Protesters filled plazas, streets and parks across the country Saturday, mounting a mass mobilization against a president that many demonstrators decried as authoritarian. The protests unfolded in waves as the day progressed, both in small towns and major cities including New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and Los Angeles, all intended as a counterpoint to the military parade President Donald Trump hosted in Washington.

The “No Kings” events in all 50 states were animated by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, domestic military mobilization, federal spending cuts and the parade, which coincided with the president’s 79th birthday. Many demonstrators struck patriotic themes, waving American flags, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or carrying signs referencing the nation’s Founding Fathers.

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Carlie Woods, 21, who protested with her father and sister in Springfield, Massachusetts, said she had nearly lost her voice from cheering as she carried a sign featuring an American flag and a “Power to the People” message.

“A lot of times it can feel very doom and gloom,” she said, “but this makes you feel like you’re not alone, to be around so many people fighting for our future.”

Speakers at a rally outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, paid tribute to state Rep. Melissa Hortman, the Democratic lawmaker who was assassinated overnight by a person pretending to be a police officer. Organizers called off other rallies in the state as investigators said the attacker, who remained at large, may have also planned to target the protests.

Hours later, authorities in Texas evacuated the state Capitol and its grounds “out of an abundance of caution” after receiving what they described as a credible threat toward state legislators who were expected to attend the protest in Austin. A law enforcement official later said that a person was arrested outside the city in connection with the threat. The Capitol grounds reopened, and the crowd filed in.

Organizers of the “No Kings” demonstrations called on participants to focus on “nonviolent action.” In Houston, some demonstrators handed out flowers to police officers who were securing the route of the protest.

While many of the events drew large crowds, conflicts were rare. Police in northern Atlanta deployed tear gas into a crowd of demonstrators who were headed toward a highway, and police in Charlotte, North Carolina, sprayed a chemical irritant at protesters attempting to move past a line of officers.

There were also tense moments in Springfield, Ohio, where the Haitian community was a focus of Trump’s 2024 campaign as he spread falsehoods that its members were eating people’s pets. Hundreds of protesters cheered when police led away a Trump supporter in handcuffs after a confrontation.

In Los Angeles, tensions flared when protesters faced the National Guard and Marines guarding a federal building. Police issued a dispersal order in one section of downtown. As demonstrations began to wrap up, some protesters resisted leaving and were thwarted by law enforcement who prevented them from marching again.

The protests came amid rising outrage over raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles that have prompted mass demonstrations and conflicts with law enforcement. The city has emerged as the center of anxiety over immigration enforcement and has seen days of sustained protests.

Some 2,000 events were planned from coast to coast. In Atlanta, thousands of people packed into Liberty Plaza, carrying signs that included the message “Stop Trump’s Terrorism” and singing a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” adjusted with the lyrics “Take Trump out of the White House.”

People marched in the rain during several New York City protests, including one on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and another on Queens Boulevard in Queens. The mood was boisterous as people chanted “No Kings in Queens.” People in passing cars honked their horns and cheered.

In Staten Island, the city’s most conservative borough, demonstrators on Victory Boulevard also were met with supportive honks from cars and, in some cases, heckling. “Long live the king,” one driver shouted as he passed a group of protesters.

In Westerly, Rhode Island, hundreds of people stood in a light rain along U.S. Highway 1, some with signs and bullhorns. One sign read: “Not a paid protestor, I hate him for free.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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