(The Center Square) – Tens of thousands marched Saturday through the streets of Seattle in protest of President Donald Trump.
The march on Saturday is part of the “No Kings Day” event held across the nation with over 1,800 cities participating. The event on Saturday was organized by progressive groups who oppose Trump policies that he campaigned on before winning the 2024 presidential election. The Seattle Police Department estimates that the march from Cal Anderson Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood down to the Seattle Center stretched more than 1.5 miles.
The rally at Cal Anderson began with Musician Jim Page performing a few songs of his. Guest speakers then spoke to the crowd, including U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Washington Solicitor General Noah Guzzo Purcell, Katie Garrow, head of MLK Labor, and Cameron Miles Lavi-Jones, bandleader of the Seattle alt-rock band “King Youngblood.”
“We are not helpless – we do not need kings, we need coalition,” Lavi-Jones said to the crowd.
Jayapal was visibly emotional when mentioning the assassination earlier Saturday of Minnesota House Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman and her husband. The suspect in the case had “No Kings” flyers in his car. She mentioned social media posts that reportedly stated “shoot a couple more and the rest will go home,” which was met with boos from the crowd.
“We are not going home! We are going to stand up for our country and for our democracy,” Jayapal said. “We are here to take back our country from any and all pretenders who want to be kings.”
Throughout the event, chants included “follow the damn law,” “we are a better nation because of immigration,” and “hey-hey-ho-ho, Donald Trump has got to go,” among many others.
Jayapal shared a similar sentiment during her speech that protests work, citing Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia recently being returned from a Salvadoran maximum security prison to the U.S., amid calls for his return.
As the Seattle protest was occurring, Trump attended a military parade in Washington D.C. celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
At the time of this publication, no arrests were made related to the “No Kings” protest in Seattle.
