SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Thousands of demonstrators filled downtown San Diego streets Saturday morning, chanting “No Kings!” as they spoke out against the Trump administration for a nationwide day of defiance.
“I am so grateful that tens of thousands of San Diegans are taking to the streets today to say no kings, to say yes to democracy, to stand up against the military occupation of California,” said Terra Lawson-Remer, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
San Diego police said at least 20,000 protesters attended the ‘No Kings’ protest Saturday morning. Similar smaller demonstrations were held throughout the county.
The events took place on President Trump’s birthday and had been promoted by organizers as “a movement that leaves him behind,” according to the No Kings website.
Protesters in San Diego carried signs, many of which contained profanity, as they spoke out against recent immigration raids and Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles.
“I think the whole country is just at a point where we're not able to just stand by passively and watch what's happening to our democracy,” said Sarah Cone, who attended the San Diego protest Saturday.
Police said no arrests were made at the protest, which started in front of the county administration building around 10 a.m. and wrapped up a couple of hours later.
“We're a border city. We're a city of immigrants and we're the safest big city in the nation. Connect those dots. This is not about the criminality,” said Joe LaCava, San Diego City Council President.
President Trump hinted on Thursday on Truth Social that changes to immigration enforcement were coming.
“Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them with these jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote.
On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security told ABC News that ICE had issued new guidance to pause most raids on farms, restaurants and hotels following Trump’s post.
