June 15, 2025
Mobilizations sprang up across the country Saturday in opposition to deportation policy and perceived lawlessness of the Trump Administration. Despite the overcast and damp conditions here in New York, turnout for the “No Kings” event was massive. Meanwhile, in DC, President Trump celebrated his 79th Birthday with a military parade through the district. Tanks and other warfighting vehicles were shown on TV coverage passing by a reviewing stand as the President looked on. The exercise was said to cost $45 Million. A small number of activists skirmished with Law Enforcement in LA, according to news dispatches, but non-violence was the rule elsewhere including in NYC. People carrying homemade signs, chanting and pounding on drums marched down 5th Avenue from Bryant Park all the way to Madison Square Park (not Garden) for hours. It was the same street that Trump once boasted he could shoot somebody on and not lose any supporters. That was probably never more accurate than yesterday when his supporters were few and far between, if any were present at all.
The theme of Saturday’s protest activities, ‘No Kings‘, was in reference to the perception that Trump wants to rule like one, and to our country’s origin story. In February the White House posted a fake TIME Magazine cover depicting him sporting a crown and smirking above the words “Long Live the King.” Moreover, Trump has pushed to, and often through, the limits of Law and informal ‘guardrails’ since his return to the White House in January. He has, for example, continued to conduct his personal business with countries while negotiating tariff policy with them. He also invited the biggest buyers of his proprietary cryptocurrency to a dinner that was widely regarded as a pay to play scam that raked in almost $150 Million, according to a report in USA Today.
But it was his admin’s heavy handed treatment of migrants that prompted this massive rejection of it. Endless horror stories have appeared almost daily of unspeakable cruelty. An American citizen child with cancer was deported along with their mother as the “Border Czar” sneered, “They weren’t deported. We don’t deport US citizens. Their parents made that decision, not the United States government.” Maybe he didn’t see his Boss’s memo? Other migrants have been taken into custody when they appeared, as directed, at their Immigration Hearing. People with no criminal record have been sent to a contract torture jail in Central America where the country’s Justice Minister has said nobody that enters it will leave on foot. And, of course, the hard working people who harvest the food we eat, make up the hotel rooms where we sleep, and take loving care of our youngest and oldest family members are a far cry from “the Bad Ones” Trump’s Deportation agenda was pitched as targeting. A NYC High School student was captured by ICE recently when he appeared for his scheduled immigration appointment.
As the President’s Birthday Parade and hundreds of No Kings mobilizations were happening stateside, the initial volleys in a fresh war between Israel and Iran were being fired in the Middle East. TV newsreels showed heavy damage from ballistic missiles, combat aircraft, and weaponized drones in both countries. The Trump administration had been engaged in discussions with Iran over that nation’s nuclear programs, but meetings scheduled for today have reportedly been cancelled, according to multiple news reports. Notably, the President, Vice President, and Secretary of Defense were all watching a parade while Tel Aviv and Tehran were rocked by explosions and oil prices surged.
