{"id":11829,"date":"2025-10-18T20:48:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11829\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T20:48:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:48:17","slug":"masses-gather-at-todays-no-kings-protests-in-southern-california-nationwide-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/11829\/","title":{"rendered":"Masses gather at today\u2019s \u2018No Kings\u2019 protests in Southern California, nationwide \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of people are gathering across the nation \u2013 and in Southern California \u2013 for \u201cNo Kings\u201d demonstrations on Saturday to protest the policies of President Donald Trump, or what Republican leaders have dubbed \u201cHate America\u201d rallies.<\/p>\n

This is the third mass mobilization and second No Kings Day since Trump\u2019s return to the White House, and it comes amid a government shutdown and what organizers warn is a turn toward American authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

More than 2,600 rallies are planned in cities large and small, including dozens in Southern California<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Torrance, around 4,000 people lined the streets and parking lots near City Hall on Saturday morning. Demonstrators dressed in rainbows, waved American flags and held signs reading, \u201cNo hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcomed here,\u201d and \u201cRespect my existence or expect my resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katharine Nhyus with Indivisible South Bay, the group that organized the Torrance protest, encouraged those present to vote yes on Prop. 50, California\u2019s redistricting ballot proposition<\/a>, which seeks to favor Democrats in California\u2019s congressional elections as a way to counter similar, Republican-led plans elsewhere in the country to boost the GOP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way we make a difference is by doing things like this,\u201d Nhyus told the cheering crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s more important than ever to stand up for the First Amendment,\u201d said Lawndale resident Tom Tran, 42. \u201cIf we don\u2019t use it, then there\u2019s a real danger that we\u2019ll lose it. It\u2019s a scary time we\u2019re living in and it\u2019s more important than ever to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palos Verdes resident Klarysa, 47, felt passionately about attending the No Kings protest because of her experiences living in Poland as a teenager.<\/p>\n

Klarysa left Poland 23 years ago, but said she is seeing what she saw happen there, happen in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same depletion (of rights) from every part of the system,\u201d she said. \u201cFrom women\u2019s rights to education to dismantling the institutions and going after judges.\u201d<\/p>\n

A protest along Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach drew around 3,000 people by noon. Some were in costumes. Long Beach resident Louis Mestaz wore a \u201cCat in the Hat\u201d getup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cat in the Hat is a crazy kind of character,\u201d Mestaz said, \u201cand right now, that\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing in the White House. A crazy character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even his sign had a Dr. Seuss vibe: \u201cNo Not for Us. We\u2019ll not have a king. Not at all. Not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

TJ Hedin, another Long Beach protester, said it was his first time attending a No Kings rally. A PhD student at UCLA, Hedin said that funding cuts and Trump\u2019s attacks on academia are affecting his future as an educator.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of fascist behavior by the administration from all the ICE activity with no due process, cracking down on freedom of speech, actions they\u2019ve taken against universities,\u201d Hedin, 34, said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to show up as a community and hopefully pressure our elected officials and demonstrate that we don\u2019t all support this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby, Kristin G., an LAUSD teacher who asked that her last name be withheld, said she has seen enrollment go down out of parents\u2019 and students\u2019 fears of immigration enforcement. Some students, she said, have returned to their home countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re close to those kids,\u201d she said. \u201cWe know them and we know their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said protests like these remind everyone that they\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in this together, no matter what background we come from,\u201d she said, \u201cYou feel like we\u2019re in this as a nation and everybody together.\u201d<\/p>\n

As hundreds began gathering in Huntington Beach, lawyers Susan Westover and Dale Giali showed up with large cutouts \u2014 Giali hoisting one of Trump with the words \u201cclownish\u201d and \u201ctraitor\u201d hovering above the president\u2019s shoulders, and Westover with a cutout of Pam Bondi\u2019s head beneath a sign reading, \u201cLying Lawless Despot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both of them said they were registered Republicans until Trump received the Republican nomination in 2016.<\/p>\n

Westover said that the president\u2019s \u201cblatant hypocrisy\u201d and \u201cunconstitutionality\u201d were driving factors in their appearance Saturday, as well as at the last No Kings rally in Huntington Beach in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people who think like us,\u201d Giali said. \u201cKeep the faith. Let\u2019s take our country back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Orange, several thousand people were gathered before noon at the intersection of Yorba and Chapman, near Chapman Global Medical Center. Traffic monitors were trying to manage the growing crowd.<\/p>\n

Massive crowds took to the streets during the first No Kings protest in June to protest Trump\u2019s policies, an event that fell on his 79th birthday. The June 14 protests were mostly peaceful until protesters and local law enforcement officers clashed in downtown LA, leading to officers deploying chemical irritants and flash bang grenades at civilians.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/a>Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18 for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n

In downtown Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon, the demonstration is to feature a 20-foot-tall balloon of President Trump wearing a diaper, a 20-foot-wide by 3-foot-tall banner that reads \u201cNo Kings for U.S.,\u201d and thousands of handmade signs by participants as they march along a nearly two-mile stretch down Spring Street.<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall in Torrance on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall in Torrance on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18 for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters hold signs at the start of \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests at Waterfront Park. (San Diego Union-Tribune\/ Meg McLaughlin)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second annual \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather at a main traffic intersection in support of the nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d rallies on Oct. 18, 2025 in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Organizers expect millions to participate in cities and towns across the nation for the second \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest to denounce the Trump administration. (Photo by Grant Baldwin\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From right, Robert Keding and Susan Scott protest at Bluff Park in Long Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Long Beach Press Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Sue<\/p>\n

Sue DeRuyter, center, joins protesters at Bluff Park in Long Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Long Beach Press Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather at Bluff Park in Long Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Long Beach Press Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Protesters<\/p>\n

Protesters gather at Bluff Park in Long Beach on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Long Beach Press Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Clare<\/p>\n

Clare Mosko, left, holds the placard while Rachel Nervig, right, waves the flags of the United States, during the No Kings Protest at Carlsbad Blvd on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 in Carlsbad, CA. (Michael Ho \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

\"Sherry<\/p>\n

Sherry Black, center, and Cita Walsha, left, hold a \u201cNo Kings\u201d banner during the No Kings Protest at Carlsbad Blvd on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 in Carlsbad, CA. (Michael Ho \/ For The San Diego Union-Tribune)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 12<\/p>\n

Protesters gather outside Torrance City Hall in Torrance on Saturday, Oct. 18, for the second nationwide \u201cNo Kings\u201d protest against the policies of the Trump administration. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, it seems like there\u2019s something worse than the day before,\u201d Lorraine Enriquez, president of the\u00a0Redlands Area Democratic Club, said ahead of the planned protest in downtown\u00a0Redlands. \u201cWe\u2019re standing up as the voice of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the Inland Empire, an economically suppressed community,\u201d Enriquez said. \u201cPeople are not able to pay their groceries, their rent, they\u2019re about to lose their subsidies for their health insurance. We can\u2019t believe the rule of law has gone out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rallies also were held in major European cities, where gatherings of a few hundred Americans chanted slogans and held signs and U.S. flags.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A woman displays a \u201cNo Kings\u201d sign as she participates in a pro-democracy, anti-Trump protest outside the US embassy at the Pariser Platz square in Berlin, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

While the earlier nationwide protests this year \u2014 against Elon Musk\u2019s cuts in spring, then to counter Trump\u2019s military parade in June \u2014 drew crowds, organizers say this one is building a more unified opposition movement. Top Democrats such as Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders are joining in what organizers view as an antidote to Trump\u2019s actions, from the administration\u2019s clampdown on free speech to its military-style immigration raids.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no greater threat to an authoritarian regime than patriotic people-power,\u201d said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers.<\/p>\n

As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Levin said their own sign-up numbers are growing. Organizers said rallies are being planned within a one-hour drive for most Americans.<\/p>\n

Trump was away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say they\u2019re referring to me as a king. I\u2019m not a king,\u201d Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. Protests were expected to occur nearby.<\/p>\n

Republicans have sought to portray participants in Saturday\u2019s rallies as far outside the mainstream of American politics, and a main reason for the prolonged government shutdown, now in its 18th day.<\/p>\n

From the White House to Capitol Hill, GOP leaders disparaged the rallygoers as \u201ccommunists\u201d and \u201cMarxists.\u201d<\/p>\n

They say Democratic leaders, including Schumer, are beholden to the far-left flank and willing to keep the government shut down to appease those liberal forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage you to watch \u2014 we call it the Hate America rally \u2014 that will happen Saturday,\u201d said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see who shows up for that,\u201d Johnson said, listing groups including \u201cantifa types,\u201d people who \u201chate capitalism\u201d and \u201cMarxists in full display.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Facebook post, former presidential contender Sanders said, \u201cIt\u2019s a love America rally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a rally of millions of people all over this country who believe in our Constitution, who believe in American freedom and,\u201d he said, pointing at the GOP leadership, \u201care not going to let you and Donald Trump turn this country into an authoritarian society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff writers Madeline Armstrong, Christina Merino, and Sydney Barragan and the Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Millions of people are gathering across the nation \u2013 and in Southern California \u2013 for \u201cNo Kings\u201d demonstrations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,138,100,2058,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-11829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-protest","14":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}