TENS OF THOUSANDS of protesters turned out in cities across the Bay Area on Saturday including San Francisco as part of nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations against actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration — from immigration raids on workplaces, courts and schools, to his expansion of executive power in several areas.
A coalition of grassroots organizations, labor unions, legal and nonprofit groups under the banner “No Kings” said the nationwide demonstrations were held in 2,100 cities and communities and drew an estimated 5 million participants, but numbers were still in flux Saturday afternoon as some demonstrations continued, and crowd totals were unverified.
Protesters gathered in public places in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Sonoma, and several other communities, objecting to actions taken by the federal government that protesters called authoritarian and anti-democratic.
Protesters held signs and rallied against actions by Trump including the dozens of executive orders issued since he became president, raids and illegal detentions by federal immigration authorities, attacks on the federal judiciary, attempts to punish law firms and higher education institutions, and targeting local officials for arrest in rhetoric and action.
The protests were coordinated on a trio of overlapping occasions: it was Flag Day on Saturday, but it was also the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, and Trump’s own birthday. He planned a military parade in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the day.
His expansion of executive power also comes a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents are entitled to broad immunity from prosecution for official acts they take in office.
The president’s actions have ranged from challenging political norms to breaking federal law and have brought hundreds of lawsuits from civil rights groups and those targeted by the administration, including lawyers, legal immigrants, Harvard University, transgender military members, and others.
Mostly without incident
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management estimated tens of thousands of people turned out at the Civic Center in San Francisco on Saturday at about 1 p.m. A department spokesperson said the demonstration was largely peaceful with “limited incidents of violence and vandalism” and no serious injuries. The protest was winding down as of about 3:30 p.m.
The day’s demonstrations in the city were organized by the organizations Indivisible SF and 50501 and started with a gathering at Ocean Beach’s Sunset Dunes Park, where the group formed a “human banner.”
Protesters then gathered at Mission Dolores Park, in the Mission District, at about 11:30 a.m. Before marching over a mile to the Civic Center, where a large crowd gathered for a rally on the steps of City Hall.
Video shared on social media from state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, showed a massive crowd of protesters marching up Dolores Street, some with American flags, and many with signs denouncing authoritarianism and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and supporting immigrants and the U.S. Constitution.
San Francisco says NO KINGS! pic.twitter.com/i9BAZ7F2CL — Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 14, 2025
The administration has challenged federal law in multiple ways, including, most recently, taking command of the California National Guard over the objection of Gov. Gavin Newsom. A federal judge ruled that the administration acted illegally and ordered the command returned to the governor. An appeals court stayed the ruling while the case moves forward, with a hearing set for Tuesday.
Trump has also withheld and attempted to withhold funding from states and federal programs that was already appropriated by Congress. The administration has arrested, detained and deported legal residents and U.S. citizens. His administration sought to delete online health data, take away Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, punish law firms for work they did with Democratic clients and other actions that have broken federal law.
His administration has threatened to jail local leaders of sanctuary cities and has arrested a local judge in Milwaukee, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and a U.S. congresswoman, and is attempting to prosecute them for separate incidents involving immigration enforcement. U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was also thrown to the ground and handcuffed by FBI agents when he burst in on a news conference held by U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday.
Other protests around the country
The San Francisco demonstrations were a microcosm of protests that played out elsewhere in the nation on Saturday, where people gathered in streets, parks and plazas for organized “No Kings” rallies.
Huge, boisterous crowds marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, some behind “No Kings” banners. Atlanta’s 5,000-capacity event quickly reached its limit, with thousands more gathered outside barriers to hear speakers in front of the state capitol.
Light rain fell as marchers gathered for the flagship rally in Philadelphia. They shouted “Whose streets? Our streets!” as they marched to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they listened to speakers on the steps made famous in the movie “Rocky.”
“So what do you say, Philly?” Democratic U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland shouted to the crowd. “Are you ready to fight back? Do you want a gangster state or do you want free speech in America?”
In Minnesota, organizers canceled demonstrations as police worked to track down a suspect in the shootings of two Democratic legislators and their spouses.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, demonstrators trying to march through downtown briefly faced off with police forming a barricade with their bicycles, chanting “let us walk,” while law enforcement in northern Atlanta deployed tear gas to divert several hundred protesters heading toward Interstate 285. In Florida, one march approached the gates of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Plm Beach, where sheriff’s deputies turned them back.
And in Los Angeles, which has been the epicenter of anti-ICE demonstrations for days, thousands gathered in front of City Hall, waving signs and listening to a Native American drum circle before marching through the streets.
As protesters passed National Guard troops or U.S. Marines stationed at various buildings, most interactions were friendly, with demonstrators giving fist bumps or posing for selfies, but others chanted “shame” or “go home” at the troops.
Amid signs reading “They fear us don’t back down California” and “We carry dreams not danger,” one demonstrator carried a 2-foot-tall Trump piñata on a stick, with a crown on his head and sombrero hanging off his back. Another hoisted a huge helium-filled orange baby balloon with blond hair styled like Trump’s.
A few blocks from City Hall, protesters gathered in front of the downtown federal detention center being guarded by a line of Marines.
Peter Varadi, 54, said he voted for Trump last November for “economic reasons.” Now, for the first time in his life, he is protesting, waving a Mexican and U.S. combined flag.
“I voted for Donald Trump, and now I regret that, because he’s taken this fascism to a new level,” Varadi said. “It’s Latinos now. Who’s next? It’s gays. Blacks after that. They’re coming for everybody”
SCENES FROM THE PROTESTS
Walnut Creek, Broadway Plaza
San Francisco, Mission Dolores Park
Los Angeles
Around the nation
Bay City News reporters Aly Brown, Autumn DeGrazi, Sobhan Hassanvand and Kathleen Kirkwood contributed to this story. Additional reporting by The Associated Press.