Protesters will fill the streets in Dallas and cities around the country Saturday to call for protecting American democracy.
Dallas is one of some 2,600 cities with planned “No Kings” protests, but similar demonstrations are popping up in suburbs as well, like Frisco, Arlington, Denton, Flower Mound, Forney, Garland and McKinney.
Organizers say they expect millions of protesters to join in rallying against President Donald Trump and policies of his administration. Organizers of the protest in Frisco, which began at 9 a.m., were expecting more than a thousand people to take part.
The latest round of protests comes as fury builds over the deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities, immigration raids and a government shutdown.
Political Points
“The president thinks his rule is absolute,” the Dallas protest website says. “But in America, we don’t have kings, and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty.”
Some conservative politicians have condemned the protests as “Hate America” rallies, while others say they represent a “patriotic” fight for First Amendment rights.
Trump is away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. Protests are expected nearby Saturday.
“They say they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” Trump said in a Fox News interview airing early Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
As Republicans and the White House dismiss the protests as a rally of radicals, Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, among the key organizers, said their own sign-up numbers are growing.
In June, millions of protesters around the U.S. turned up for No Kings protests, and organizers say they expect a bigger turnout Saturday. Organizers said the last round was peaceful, and they expect the same Saturday.
Rain could hamper attendance, though. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth is predicting scattered showers and storms, some of which could be severe, throughout the day across North and Central Texas.
Still, Gov. Greg Abbott said he is deploying the state’s National Guard to Austin ahead of the protests. It’s not clear if Guard troops will be deployed to North Texas.
“Violence and destruction will never be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott said.
Texas Democrats criticized the move, accusing Abbott of trying to intimidate people exercising their First Amendment right.
The Dallas protest begins at noon at Pacific Plaza in downtown. A Dallas police spokesperson said in an email that additional officers will patrol the area, as with any large event. Intermittent traffic stops are expected, but police do not plan to fully close any roads.
Reporters and photographers for The Dallas Morning News will be on site and will provide coverage here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.