Threats to democracy, free speech drive mass 'No Kings' protests in US

​​​​​​WASHINGTON

Millions of demonstrators gathered across the US on Saturday to protest President Donald Trump and his administration, with many citing threats to democracy, free speech and the environment for taking to the streets.

One of the organizers, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said 7 million people showed up to the more than 2,500 “No Kings” rallies organized in all 50 states.

Major gathering points included cities from Los Angeles and Chicago to New York and the nation's capital of Washington, DC, as well as their surroundings.

Bob McCann, a resident of a retirement community who helped organize one of the rallies, said his motivation was to stand against “a president who is claiming to be a king.”

“We have a Constitution, not a king,” McCann, who is 101 years old, told Anadolu. “We're here today to demonstrate nonviolently and with love for our country and love for everybody.”

Jill Landsberg said the Trump administration was acting in a way that went against the US Constitution, including the First Amendment.

“I'm here because I'm 83 years old, and throughout my life, I have had the pleasure and privilege of protesting acts by our government that were unconstitutional or that tended to chill our free speech rights. And unfortunately, this is one of those times,” she said, pointing to the deployment of the military to US cities.

Terry, 81, argued that Trump’s actions served to erode checks and balances in the government.

“We're out here fighting for democracy again. We are protesting authoritarianism. We are preaching peace and love and free speech and no kings,” she said.

For Michael Walsh, who used to work at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a major concern was the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental protections and efforts to weaken the agency’s role in combating climate change.

“We're here to support the work that EPA does and the work that remains to be done, especially now, dealing with climate change, which is a real global crisis,” he said.