(DDM) – Millions of Americans have flooded streets across the United States in what organizers describe as a historic nationwide uprising against President Donald Trump’s alleged drift toward authoritarianism.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that the protests, tagged “No Kings Movement,” were simultaneously held in more than 2,500 cities and towns, drawing crowds of unprecedented scale from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.
According to CNN, the rallies were organised to denounce what participants called Trump’s militarised and autocratic style of governance, following a wave of ICE raids and troop deployments in Democrat-led states.
Protesters donned yellow clothing and bandanas, a unifying symbol of hope and democratic defiance, as they marched through major urban centres chanting, “Power belongs to the people, not kings.”
Organisers of the No Kings Movement said yellow was chosen as a global emblem of nonviolent resistance, referencing historical movements like Hong Kong’s Yellow Umbrella protests and Ukraine’s Yellow Ribbon campaign.
“Yellow is our banner of unity,” said one protest leader. “It stands for hope, democracy, and the collective strength of ordinary citizens resisting tyranny.”
Republican lawmakers have dismissed the protests as “anti-American,” while the White House described them as “an orchestrated political stunt.”
However, Democratic leaders, including Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, openly joined the demonstrations, declaring on X (formerly Twitter), “We will not back down to Donald Trump. Protest is what this country was founded on.”
DDM observed that in cities such as Atlanta, Boston, and Seattle, the demonstrations remained peaceful but emotionally charged, featuring live music, art displays, and speeches from activists and faith leaders.
In Silver Spring, Maryland, protesters waved placards from highway bridges, while smaller vigils lit candles in suburban parks and community squares.
International solidarity events were also recorded outside U.S. embassies in Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Stockholm, where demonstrators held banners reading, “Democracy for all nations, no to kings.”
Senator Adam Schiff of California released a video message supporting the protesters, reminding Americans that the country was “born from a revolution against monarchy.”
“When we declared independence from a king 250 years ago,” Schiff said, “we also declared independence from the idea of kings. What we see now echoes those same grievances.”
He urged citizens to defend democracy through peaceful resistance, saying, “Democracy only survives when people are willing to stand up for it.”
One demonstrator, Joan Press, told DDM she joined the Atlanta rally with her husband because of fears over shrinking freedoms and social welfare rollbacks.
“We’re a democracy,” she said. “And in a democracy, people must be free to voice dissent. We won’t be silenced.”
Observers say the “No Kings” protests mark one of the largest coordinated acts of civil disobedience in recent U.S. history, uniting progressives, independents, and moderate Republicans under a shared call to safeguard American democracy.
Organisers insist that the protests were nonviolent and citizen-driven, aimed at reaffirming that “power must come from the people, not from crowns or authoritarian rule.”
As night fell, demonstrators continued singing and waving yellow lights, a powerful symbol of unity and resistance shining against the backdrop of political division.