Thousands counter Trump’s military parade in No Kings protests in Pittsburgh

Thousands of people showed up in downtown Pittsburgh to take part in the No Kings Day of Defiance protests planned across nearly 2,000 cities and towns globally this weekend. Two protests organized by multiple groups culminated at Pittsburgh’s City County building Saturday afternoon, timed to lead up to a 6 p.m. military parade in Washington, D.C. that coincides with the Army’s 250th anniversary, Flag Day and President Donald Trump’s birthday. Similar protests took place across Western Pennsylvania.

“People are out in the street because they want to stand with democracy,” said Tracy Colleen Baton, a social worker and director of Indivisible Pittsburgh. “We stand with America and we stand with our neighbors. Trumpism is coming for both of those things.”

The rallies come a day after a person posing as a police officer shot and killed Melissa Hortman, a Democratic state legislator in Minnesota, and her husband in a Minneapolis suburb. Another state Democratic representative was also shot with his wife in a separate incident by the same assailant. 

The protests also come as Trump is increasingly flexing the powers of his office, including with the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops to respond to protests in Los Angeles over his administration’s immigration crackdown.

Lt. Governor Austin Davis joined Monica Ruiz of Casa San José to speak out against the Trump administration’s forceful deportations and attacks on free speech, urging people to write letters to their elected officials. The two joined local groups including Indivisible Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Partners for Progress SWPA, Progress PA, Monday’s with(OUT) Mccormick, TransYouniting, Pittsburgh Healthcare Workers and Scientists (PGHS), 50501 Pittsburgh and John Lewis Action as they marched from historic Freedom Square to the City County Building alongside people chanting and holding signs. 

The No Kings protests were expected to be the largest single-day mobilization since Trump returned to office, organizers said. 

“We’ve watched as they’ve cracked down on free speech, detained people for their political positions, threatened to deport American citizens, and defied the courts. They’ve done this all while continuing to serve and enrich their billionaire allies,” said a press release from Indivisible Pittsburgh. “They think they rule — but we are bigger than even their worst aspirations.”

Trump’s military parade comes eight years after he was dazzled by a Bastille Day procession in France that he called “one of the greatest parades I have ever seen.” The day brings the former reality TV star’s longtime dream of hosting a similar spectacle to the streets of the capital, with tanks and other armored vehicles rolling beside thousands of marching soldiers in the streets and military aircraft flying overhead. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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