St. Petersburg among more than 70 Florida cities taking part in 'No Kings' protests

In the largest mobilization against the policies of the Trump administration since the president returned to the White House in January, Floridians gathered in more than 70 cities as part of the nationwide “No Kings Day” protests.

In Tallahassee, several groups came together four weeks ago to organize the protest that drew thousands to the Florida Historic Capitol, said Claudia Sperber, one of the co-organizers and president of the Leon County Chapter of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida.

Organizers emphasized safety training in their preparations for Saturday, in light of the warnings earlier this week from state and local officials promising to quash violent protests by any means necessary.

“We wanted to be careful, but we refused to be bullied,” Sperber said. “We know it is a classic playbook from a dictator to make people feel afraid, and we refused to be afraid.”

Approximately 5,000 protested in Tallahassee, according to the organizers. That number is not independently verified.

During a Thursday press conference with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned protesters that disobeying or hurting law enforcement would lead to arrests and death.

“If you throw a brick, a fire bomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at because we will kill you, graveyard dead,” he said.

The Tallahassee event was unfolding as news flashed about a shooting in Minnesota, where a Democratic legislator and her husband were killed, and another legislator and his wife were seriously injured. That prompted authorities in that state to warn people against attending the rallies.

However, the demonstration in the state capital, which started at 10 a.m., remained peaceful. There was a group of four Trump supporters in the crowd.

Chants, songs, and speeches filled the air for four hours. “Stand up, fight back. Stop the madman now,” a group of women sang.

Even as the official programming ended, crowds remained in front of the Florida Historic Capitol and lining up along Monroe Street, one of the city’s main roads. Among those who attended the event were Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party, and Rick Wilson, the famed anti-Trumper and co-founder of the Lincoln Project.

Brizeida Patiño, 19, said she came to the protest to stand up for her parents, who immigrated from Mexico, and the immigrant community in Tallahassee. More than two weeks ago, federal immigration officials and Florida Highway Patrol conducted the largest raid in the state so far to crack down on illegal immigration, targeting a construction site near the Florida State University campus.

“My parents immigrated from Mexico, trying to seek a better life for me, my siblings, and they’ve done a great job, and they’ve done no harm to this country,” she said. “Matter of fact, they’ve definitely made it better. They’re hard-working people, the same way all these other Hispanic, Latino, people of color.”

Here’s a video from the No Kings protest crowd near the Tyrone Mall in St. Petersburg, and story featuring reporting from St. Pete protests www.cltampa.com/tampa/st-pet…

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— Creative Loafing Tampa Bay (@cltampabay.bsky.social) June 15, 2025 at 7:49 AM St. Petersburg There were protests all over the state, including one near Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach resort and home of Trump. Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered on the street corners of three intersections.

Many of the protesters’ signs in St. Pete expressed anger about the unprecedented number of raids of undocumented immigrants performed by the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in recent months. Public protests against one such raid last week in Los Angeles compelled President Trump to call up 2,000 soldiers from California’s Guard against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, which has few precedents in U.S. history.

“He’s deporting people unlawfully,” said St. Petersburg resident Neil Pajwa. “They’re not getting proper due process. He’s using the military, which has almost never been used before. I think he’s setting himself up to basically be a dictator.”

Pajwa said he was particularly disturbed by a speech Trump gave at Fort Bragg, N.C., this week at which uniformed soldiers cheered the president’s political comments. “I’ve never seen the military vocally supporting such statements,” he said. “That was very scary.”

Rhonda Keller said she’s not confident that protests bring about change but felt it was important to participate. She noted that in the past 48 hours, Trump has told ICE to pause raids and arrests in the agriculture industry, hotels, and restaurants. For Keller, the reversal of policy shows that Trump is a “masterful manipulator.”

“I don’t believe he’s a bright human being, but he is a masterful manipulator, and for him to control the narrative and to say, ‘Oh, we need to not hurt our farmworkers this way or our hospitality industry this way.’ Like dude, you were literally the one who is hurting them and now the MAGA people are going to be able to say, ‘See, he doesn’t want to hurt farmworkers,’ even though we are actively hurting them,” Keller said.

Several people in the crowd said that to date they have been disappointed with the Democrats, who are in the minority in Congress and Florida government.

Ruth Liss, a senior citizen, walked through the crowd with a sign that read, “Congress: Sale on Balls — you need ‘em!”

“I’m just surprised that he has people who keep kowtowing to him,” she said. “I’m sick and tired of having to hide under the sofa and that’s exactly what Congress is doing. That’s what everybody in a suit seems to be doing,” she said. “I feel that the country is frightened. I think that the country is fed-up, and we don’t know what to do and this is the only way we can start.”

While most in the St. Petersburg rally expressed optimism about the future, none thought the political situation in Washington would course-correct anytime soon.

“It’s going to get worse before it’s going to get better but it starts here, right?” said Keara Kersey. “It just brings awareness, and we’re getting a lot of support here. Maybe it changes some minds.” [content-1] Kearsey said she had been uncertain about attending Saturday’s event because of fears of violence breaking out. She said she was disturbed to hear Gov. Ron DeSantis say this week that drivers who feel threatened by protesters should hit them with their cars.

“It’s our right to free speech to protest,” Kearsey responded. “You don’t see any violence around here.”

Protesters near Tyrone Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida on June 14, 2025. Credit: Courtesy photoProtesters near Tyrone Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida on June 14, 2025. Credit: Courtesy photoProtesters near Tyrone Mall in St. Petersburg, Florida on June 14, 2025. Credit: Courtesy photo

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St. Petersburg among more than 70 Florida cities taking part in ‘No Kings’ protests

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