University of Kwazulu-Natal

La Plunged Into Chaos As Trump Holds Military Parade And No Kings

Bonisiwe Shabane
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la plunged into chaos as trump holds military parade and no kings

President Donald Trump's military parade was just eight blocks long. That's true even though the June 14 parade itself turned out to be a damp and relatively low-key affair. Thousands of spectators lined a stretch of Constitution Avenue in an off-and-on drizzle to applaud a slow-moving procession of troops, tanks, drones, a robot dog and a real dog marking the 250th anniversary of... Army. At the end, they joined in a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for the president, who happened to be turning 79 years old. "Every other country celebrates their victories," Trump said at the start of his brief speech, defending his controversial decision to stage the parade.

"It's about time America did, too." But the parade may prove less consequential than the "No Kings" marches it sparked. In the biggest and broadest protests of his second term, millions of Americans in about 2,000 communities gathered to object to his assertion of unprecedented presidential powers that opponents say violate the Constitution. Even before Donald Trump militarized his crackdown on pro-immigrant protesters in Los Angeles, a massive, nationwide demonstration was in the works for Saturday. The “No Kings” protests on June 14 have been imagined as a peaceful uprising to counter President Trump throwing himself a military parade on his birthday (which is also Flag Day and the 250th... Trump is organizing spectacle befitting a tin-pot tyrant, including a procession of tanks, Howitzers, mobile rocket launchers and other war machines rolling through the streets of Washington, D.C., as military aircraft, including Apache helicopters,...

Protest organizers have billed June 14 as a “nationwide day of defiance,” during which Americans across the country stand up to “reject authoritarianism” and reclaim patriotism in the name of democracy. “The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us,” the protest website declares. Trump has menaced demonstrators planning to show up at his military procession: “If any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,” he said Tuesday. Anticipating such a reaction, protest organizers specifically decided not to target the Trump parade route; there is not even a No Kings event planned in D.C. They envision, instead, demonstrators “showing up everywhere [Trump] isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”

Turnout at the nationwide demonstrations is expected to surpass the April 5 “Hands Off!” protests, which drew more than 3 million protesters to oppose the Trump government, then dominated by Elon Musk, who was... WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump presided over a parade Saturday celebrating the nation’s military power and history, though the event was shadowed by political violence at home and escalating tensions abroad. “Every other country celebrates their victories,” Trump said as he took the lectern after the parade ended. “It’s about time America did, too. That’s what we’re doing tonight.” Prone to delivering long, boastful speeches, Trump kept his remarks brief and made the military the focus.

Beforehand, critics had warned he would politicize the event for his own purposes. Trump avoided any overt partisan messages, though he seemed to allude at one point to his "Fight! Fight! Fight!" exhortation after an assassination attempt against him last year. "Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you," Trump said. "Your defeat will be certain.

Your demise will be final, and your downfall will be total and complete — because our soldiers never give up, never surrender and never ever quit. They fight, fight, fight and they win, win, win." The protests have been limited to a square mile location in downtown LA. President Donald Trump has painted a bleak picture of Los Angeles since protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids broke out over the weekend. He has repeatedly said that the city was going to burn without the intervention of the military and that there were paid "insurrectionists" and "criminal invaders" seizing the city, which had devolved into "anarchy." Local leaders, however, present a more complex picture of the scene on the ground.

While they acknowledged that there was some marked violence and lawlessness, they said that local authorities were able to bring the situation under control in the limited areas in which skirmishes broke out. Thousands of troops, tanks, military vehicles, and aircraft moved past US President Donald Trump as part of the event honouring 250 years of the US Army. The parade, held on Saturday, was the largest military display in the country in decades. It also happened to be Trump’s 79th birthday. At the same time, crowds of 'No Kings' protesters filled streets, parks and public spaces, shouting slogans against authoritarianism and calling for the protection of democracy and immigrant rights. ALSO READ | History Today: How US Army was founded 250 years ago

The parade began earlier than planned due to a forecast of thunderstorms in the Washington area. Protesters across hundreds of US cities took to the streets Saturday as Donald Trump flexed the US' military might in a Washington parade on his 79th birthday, an event demonstrators berated as a "display... Issued on: 14/06/2025 - 23:53Modified: 15/06/2025 - 06:39 To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

President Donald Trump hosted the largest US military parade in decades on his 79th birthday on Saturday, as protesters rallied across the country to accuse him of acting like a dictator. Updated on: June 15, 2025 / 7:55 PM EDT / CBS/AP Demonstrators crowded into streets, parks and plazas across the U.S. on Saturday to protest President Trump, marching through downtowns and blaring anti-authoritarian chants mixed with support for protecting democracy and immigrant rights. Organizers of the "No Kings" demonstrations said millions had marched in hundreds of events. Governors across the U.S.

had urged calm and vowed no tolerance for violence, while some mobilized the National Guard ahead of marchers gathering. Confrontations were isolated. But one person was transported to a Salt Lake City hospital Saturday night with life-threatening injuries after a shooting during that city's protest, officials said. Salt Lake City police said the shooting was "possibly associated with the demonstration." Huge, boisterous crowds marched in New York, Denver, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, some behind "no kings" banners.

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"It's about time America did, too." But the parade may prove less consequential than the "No Kings" marches it sparked. In the biggest and broadest protests of his second term, millions of Americans in about 2,000 communities gathered to object to his assertion of unprecedented presidential powers that opponents say violate the Constitution. Even before Donald Trump militarized his crackdown on pr...

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Protest organizers have billed June 14 as a “nationwide day of defiance,” during which Americans across the country stand up to “reject authoritarianism” and reclaim patriotism in the name of democracy. “The flag doesn’t belong to President Trump. It belongs to us,” the protest website declares. Trump has menaced demonstrators planning to show up at his military procession: “If any protester wants...

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Beforehand, Critics Had Warned He Would Politicize The Event For

Beforehand, critics had warned he would politicize the event for his own purposes. Trump avoided any overt partisan messages, though he seemed to allude at one point to his "Fight! Fight! Fight!" exhortation after an assassination attempt against him last year. "Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you," Trump said. "Y...