Tens of thousands of demonstrators on Saturday filled streets and parks in downtown San Diego as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration.
The protest drew a massive crowd of families, young people and older residents who packed Waterfront Park and surrounding streets. San Diego Police estimated some 60,000 people attended the rally. There were no arrests, and police did not receive any reports of property damage.
Many participants protested specific administration policies such as immigration and cuts to Medicaid, while others targeted what they said were attacks on due process and other constitutional protections.
Overall, the protests denounced what organizers have characterized as the creeping authoritarianism of the Trump presidency through its rapid expansion of executive power.
Ron Penn, a 61-year-old disabled military veteran, said he attended to fight for the rights of all, not just vets. He also targeted the administration’s budget proposal now pending in the Senate known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” It would slash spending across hundreds of government programs, and contains tax cuts that would benefit the wealthy the most.
“It’s absolutely criminal,” Penn said. “That bill is taking from the most marginalized communities and giving it to people who don’t need it.”
Aaron Warner came downtown from Jamul with his wife and their two children for what he called a family-friendly event.
Warner, 39, said he was protesting against the administration’s immigration crackdown that he said was “going after people who have been here for a long time and haven’t done anything wrong.”
Despite outrage among some attendees, the protest was interspersed with music and dancing. One band played live music on the corner of Harbor Drive and other attendees brought speakers and danced in groups on the sidewalk.
Small children bounced on the shoulders of their parents holding signs and splashed in the fountains at the park. Toward the early afternoon, as the crowd thinned, groups sat on the grass overlooking the San Diego Bay.
The events in San Diego come on the heels of protests in Los Angeles, which formed in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests outside a hardware store and in the Fashion District in the city. News reports said the protests there were mostly peaceful but garnered national attention after images and videos of at times violent clashes between police and protesters circulated social media.
The Trump administration responded by sending the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city, against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass. The governor is suing the administration over the move.
At the end of May, San Diegans had their own confrontation with immigration officials when ICE agents used flash bangs to disperse a crowd protesting an immigration raid at the popular South Park Italian restaurant Buona Forchetta, according to news reports.
ICE agents, some outfitted with rifles, helmets, face coverings and other tactical gear, appeared at the restaurant at the beginning of rush hour on a Friday afternoon to arrest several workers named in a warrant which accused them of falsifying immigration documents. Bystanders in the area soon gathered and heckled agents, protesting the arrests and what they described as a militaristic response.
The scene quickly became a national flashpoint of Democratic opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, with videos of confrontations between agents and community members flooding social media.
In a statement posted online Saturday afternoon, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl commended attendees for gathering peacefully and organizers for collaborating with police on planning the event.
The protests started at two locations downtown: Civic Center Plaza and Waterfront Park at the county administration building. Around 10:30 a.m., the smaller group that had gathered at the Civic Center walked the several blocks west to join up with the larger waterfront protest.
The crowd then moved south down North Harbor Drive. Demonstrators carried “No Kings” signs along with placards protesting the administration’s ICE raids and cuts to scientific research, among other issues.
By 1:30 p.m., many of the protesters had left the park but some remained on the sidewalks holding signs as drivers in cars honked as they passed.
The protests were called to coincide with a military parade through the nation’s capital marking the 250th anniversary of the Army, which also falls on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.
Other demonstrations were held across San Diego County, including Chula Vista, El Cajon, Carlsbad and others.
