The protests were organized by the 50501 Movement, so named for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Thousands of people gathered in Philadelphia by midday on June 14, for one of the several “No Kings” protests scheduled in cities across the country, protesting President Donald Trump’s agenda on his 79th birthday.
On a stage set at the base of the Philadelphia Art Museum’s iconic “Rocky” steps, speakers, including Mayland’s democratic congressman Jamie Raskin, Martin Luther King III, and Andrea King Waters, stood up to speak to the crowd.
“We gather at a crossroads, one that asks us once again, is this America?” Waters said. “Is this America, when flash bombs fall on peaceful protesters, but not on injustice? Is this America, when the First Amendment is honored in print but punished in practice? Let me be clear, this is not patriotism. This is performance. This is not leadership. This is illusion.”
People held signs with various slogans like “Reign Reign Go Away,” “If there’s money for a parade, there’s money for Medicaid,” and “Real Kings Don’t Need Tanks.” Pro-Palestinian flags were also present.
Not everyone in the crowd was a local.
Karen Van Trieste, 61, drove up from Maryland. She said she grew up in Philadelphia and wanted to be with a large group of people showing her support.
“I just feel like we need to defend our democracy,” she said. She is concerned about the Trump administration’s layoffs of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fate of illegal immigrants, and the Trump administration’s executive orders, she said.
Ahead of the protests, though, many Philadelphians seemed unconcerned, if not unaware, of what was about to take place.
One woman, who declined to be formally interviewed, told The Epoch Times that she wasn’t sure exactly what the protest was about.
When she learned that it had been organized against Trump holding a parade on his birthday, she rolled her eyes and said, “See, this is why I don’t get involved in this tomfoolery.”
Not all residents were unaware. Roland, a 64-year-old native of Guyana who has lived in the city for the last 34 years, told The Epoch Times that he would be staying home on Saturday.
By T.J. Muscar and Stacy Robinson
