{"id":9928,"date":"2025-10-18T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/9928\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T15:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T15:43:09","slug":"no-kings-protest-austin-texas-on-edge-governor-deploys-national-guard-ahead-of-massive-no-kings-austin-protest-what-does-it-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/9928\/","title":{"rendered":"no kings protest austin: Texas on edge? Governor deploys National Guard ahead of massive \u2018No Kings\u2019 Austin protest. What does it mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A ‘No Kings’ protest is taking place in Austin on Saturday as a part of a nationwide day of demonstrations against what organizers describe as growing authoritarianism and threats to democracy. The Austin rally \u2014 expected to draw tens of thousands \u2014 will begin at 2 p.m. at the Texas Capitol<\/a> before a march to Auditorium Shores for speeches, music and coalition tabling.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the massive ‘No Kings’ protest in Austin, Governor Greg Abbott<\/a> activated the state\u2019s National Guard<\/a> in Austin, condemning aggressive immigration enforcement, according to the Texas Tribune.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: ‘No Kings’ at NYC: Thousands of protesters take over Times Square for anti-Trump marches in Manhattan. Check timings <\/a>
Texas National Guard activated?Abbott, in a press release, said he\u2019s directing the Texas Department of Public Safety to activate the Texas National Guard because of a \u201cplanned antifa-linked demonstration.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard to deploy all necessary law enforcement officials and resources to ensure the safety of Austin residents,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cTexas will deter criminal mischief and work with local law enforcement to arrest anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ETLive Events
Austin Mayor<\/a> Kirk Watson clarified in a statement later on Thursday that the National Guard would not be on the streets of Austin unless there was \u201cemergency need.\u201d Watson\u2019s and Abbott\u2019s office did not respond to immediate questions on whether the National Guard would still be stationed near the protest before an emergency occurred.ALSO READ: ‘No Kings’ dress code revealed: Massive ‘anti-Trump’ demonstrations hit 2,500 US locations- See if your city is on the map<\/a> Watson also condemned violent protests and expressed support for peaceful gatherings. \u201cLet me be clear: I don\u2019t condone the militarization of our streets,\u201d he said. \u201cI also don\u2019t condone unpeaceful acts that threaten people\u2019s health or safety, do damage to property, and disrupt the right of those who want to peacefully protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s move comes after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also claimed earlier this week that the protests are associated with antifascism, which Trump has designated as a terrorist organization last month, according to The Hill.<\/p>\n

What is ‘No Kings’ protest?A left-led protest that gained attention in June has come back again and millions are supposed to take to the streets today protesting against Donald Trump administration. The \u201c\u2018NO KINGS\u2019 is more than just a slogan; it is the foundation our nation was built upon,\u201d a website for the protests, nokings.org, says. <\/p>\n

\u201cBorn in the streets, shouted by millions, carried on posters and chants, it echoes from city blocks to rural town squares, uniting people across this country to fight dictatorship together.\u201d For today’s protest, there are several anchor cities: Washington DC; San Francisco; San Diego; Atlanta; New York City; Houston, Texas; Honolulu; Boston; Kansas City, Missouri; Bozeman, Montana; Chicago and New Orleans.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: ‘No Kings’ protest near me: How to check if a ‘No Kings’ protest will be held in your city? Check full list of location<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cNo Kings\u201d protests is being held across the country at more than 2,500 locations to speak out against the Trump administration\u2019s mass deportation push, and the president \u201cthreatening to overtake elections; gutting health care, environmental protections, and education\u201d according to the organizers\u2019 website.<\/p>\n

Similar protests took place across the state in June \u2014 from McAllen to Midland \u2014 and were largely peaceful. Abbott also deployed 5,000 National Guard members to those protests to \u201censure peace & order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles during No Kings protests there in June, without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. A federal judge later ruled that the president overstepped his authority by using federal military forces for domestic matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A ‘No Kings’ protest is taking place in Austin on Saturday as a part of a nationwide day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,9082,134,9083,133,392,2930,9084,6954,9081,9085,5601,1016],"class_list":["post-9928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-governor","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-mayor","tag-austin-news","tag-greg-abbott","tag-national-guard","tag-national-guard-austin-no-kings","tag-no-kings-protest","tag-no-kings-protest-austin","tag-no-kings-protest-austin-news","tag-texas-capitol","tag-texas-national-guard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}