Tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of New York City on Saturday as part of the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations opposing the Trump administration and its immigration agenda.
Protesters marched down Fifth Avenue waving upside-down American flags and holding signs that read “Stop the Billionaire Takeover,” “No Kings,” and “No Deportations.” The demonstration was one of many that took place across the country.
"In America, we don't do kings," read a message on the protest’s official website. "They've defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. [sic] No thrones. No crowns. No kings."
According to the New York Post, eight arrests were made during the day. While protests in New York City remained largely peaceful compared to violent clashes elsewhere in the country, the city still experienced moments of unrest.
Protesters were seen waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “ICE, ICE go away, immigrants are here to stay.” At a separate protest near 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, NYPD officers made two arrests, according to NBC New York. That protest was organized by the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which has called for the “liberation of Palestine,” the “abolition of Zionism,” and resistance to “the violence of the U.S. empire at home and abroad.”
Earlier this week, Lower Manhattan had already seen heightened tensions when an anti-ICE protest ended in chaos. That demonstration resulted in over 80 arrests after it devolved from a large-scale rally into a scene of disorderly conduct and other related offenses.
