CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (KGTV) - Protesters are planning to gather outside Camp Pendleton this weekend as Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visit the Marine Corps base for the service's 250th anniversary celebration.
The entrance to Camp Pendleton, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States, was quiet Friday afternoon. But this weekend, the location is expected to be anything but that as both a celebration of hundreds of years of Marine excellence and a potential protest against two of the attending dignitaries take place.
The protest, called the No Kings March, previously drew about 60,000 people to San Diego's waterfront in June. That demonstration was part of a nationwide protest against the policies of President Donald Trump, coinciding with a military parade in the nation's capital.
"Democracy is not a spectator sport. It's something we have to engage in. It's an act," said No Kings organizer Dane Culbreath.
This weekend's protest is happening while Vance and Hegseth will be at Camp Pendleton for a live fire exercise celebrating the U.S. Marine Corps' 250th anniversary.
"We planned this date just to express ourselves, but these events have coincided, and we do not like the show of force and show of military strength. It's really just a show when what we need from them is actual government," Culbreath said.
Culbreath says they're expecting more people to show up this time compared to the June demonstration.
"This protest is just one step in a movement for change, and personally, I am building something. I'm building a permanent home for neighbor-to-neighbor democracy," Culbreath said.
For its 250th birthday, the Marines are planning demonstrations by air, land, and sea.
I reached out to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton about Vance's visit coinciding with the No Kings protest, but haven't heard back.
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