{"id":11068,"date":"2025-10-19T14:47:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T14:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/11068\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T14:47:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T14:47:40","slug":"no-kings-protests-draws-hundreds-in-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/11068\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No Kings\u2019 protests draws hundreds in Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 \u2018No Kings\u2019 protests took place across the nation, including the Tampa Bay area<\/a>, Saturday.<\/p>\n

Protesters chanted and waved signs in defiance of President Donald Trump\u2019s policies and directives.<\/p>\n

REGIONAL COVERAGE: PHOTOS: \u2018No Kings\u2019 protests held across Tampa Bay <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first president that we\u2019ve ever had send troops into cities,\u201d said Leslie Garcia, Vietnam War veteran and resident of Tampa. \u201cIt\u2019s three equal branches of government, not just the executive branch being the sole\u2026As in a dictatorship is what he\u2019s trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Trump has pushed back on claims that he is a king in previous reports<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

Along with Garcia, protesters such as Allie Enriquez voiced their opinions on immigration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supposed to be the land of freedom, the land of opportunity, so, if people are trying to flee oppression, flee violence from their home countries, why wouldn\u2019t they come here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the multitude of protesters, 8 On Your Side also found counter protesters, though few, who still made their voices heard as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we just let everybody come over, you know, what happens is, you know, cartels will come over and drug traffickers, traffickers,\u201d said Stephanie Ross of Tampa.<\/p>\n

Ross also voiced her support of Trump\u2019s executive order <\/a>on banning gender-affirming care for those under the age of 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not at adult age yet. So we need to allow them to enjoy being kids and stop trying to indoctrinate them with all the LGBTIQ stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enriquez disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you really love your kids, you should do your best to comfort them and let them feel, like, feel how they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protestors told 8 On Your Side they hope their fellow demonstrators remember this momentum on their way to the polls come midterm elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can come out and protest like this. But when it comes to the ballot box, they vote against their own,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cMinimum wage, healthcare and an education\u2013that\u2019s what we\u2019re protesting for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2014 \u2018No Kings\u2019 protests took place across the nation, including the Tampa Bay area, Saturday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[10469,10470,409,10467,10471,135,9019,137,136,10468],"class_list":["post-11068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-allie-enriquez","tag-branches-of-government","tag-donald-trump","tag-leslie-garcia","tag-stephanie-ross","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-area","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-vietnam-war-veteran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}