‘#NoKings’ Unveils a Big New #Trump Protest, and the Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

A movement leader tells Rolling Stone about the #NoKings2 demonstrations on #October18, and how they can curb Trump’s #overreach

by Tim Dickinson, September 8, 2025

"America’s pro-democracy movement is gearing up for what may be its biggest mass-demonstration yet against the increasingly #militaristic Trump administration — which has sent armed troops to occupy the nation’s capital and is threatening to do the same in large cities from Chicago to New Orleans.
Popular resistance in Trump’s second term has snowballed, in an organic fashion, from a large President’s Day protest in February, through mass demonstrations in April, to the first 'No Kings' protest on Trump’s birthday in June — which drew millions to counter the president’s tin-pot military birthday parade.

"After a series of smaller summer protests, the movement will be back in the streets and squares and center cities of America, en masse, in October for No Kings 2 — a sequel organizers are expecting to outshine the original, amid revulsion to Trump’s brutal campaign of mass deportation led by masked agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE), and an increasingly lawless president who claims 'a lot' of Americans would 'like a dictator.'

"No Kings 2 is being organized by a big tent of grassroots and advocacy organizations. One of the most prominent players is #Indivisible, the activist group that sprang to life in the early days of the first Trump administration, and which now counts 2,500 distributed, local chapters nationwide.

"Rolling Stone spoke to Indivisible co-founder #EzraLevin last week, in advance of No Kings 2 unveiling on Monday. The protest is planned for October 18 — in the aftermath of an unpredictable showdown over government funding that could lead to a #PartialGovernmentShutdown by the end of the month.

"Levin says the stakes of the protests have never been more urgent, and that organizers are expecting record numbers of #protesters to raise their voices for democracy and against the threats of #dictatorship."

Read more:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-no-kings-2-protest-october-ice-military-1235423204

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/a9WYP

#USPol #Resistance #ResistFascism #ResistAuthoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Faith: Too Weak, Too Cruel? - Harvey Mansfield and Johnathan Bi

#militaristic #machiavelli #christianity #military

Faith: Too Weak, Too Cruel? - Harvey Mansfield and Johnathan Bi

#militaristic #machiavelli #christianity

Smith attributes much of the drops in violent #crime to a focus in #Chicago on the #systemic drivers of #violence, rather than the #militaristic approach #Trump has touted in #WashingtonDC. She encouraged more federal investment in researching these types of #ViolencePrevention strategies.

“Kind of out of necessity Chicago has become a hub for innovation in gun violence prevention,” she said.

#law #US #military #NationalGuard #MilitaryState #authoritarianism #autocracy #tyranny #TrumpCoup2

1. #Iran did nothing to justify #Israel's unprovoked #WarCrimes against it.

2. Iran spends only 8 billion dollars on its #military, while the #US and Israel spend a combined 1 trillion on theirs. Israel has killed ten times as many Iranians as there have been Israeli #deaths, and Israel is using those Israeli deaths to whip up #islamophobic, #militaristic fervor.

In 2 weeks exactly the UK will fall silent to commemorate #war in a way that is increasingly #militaristic & hegemonic. Here's my #pacifist critique: https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23337486.2021.2014237

The Rising Democratic Threat of "Hopeful Militarism"
The #Democratic Party's attempt to associate #militaristic policies with a campaign centered on #hope and #joy represents a dangerous conflation of #progress and military power.
#democrats #imperialism #harris #militaryindustrialcomplex #warmonger
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/democratic-party-militarism

The Rising Democratic Threat of "Hopeful Militarism"
The #Democratic Party's attempt to associate #militaristic policies with a campaign centered on #hope and #joy represents a dangerous conflation of #progress and military power.
#democrats #imperialism #harris #militaryindustrialcomplex #warmonger
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/democratic-party-militarism

https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2024/08/21/47369823/lack-of-oversight-in-police-training-seminars-raises-alarms

Grossman has espoused an ideology that his critics say epitomizes…#lawenforcement culture that is overly #militaristic, overly #violent, and sees American police kill civilians at a rate that far eclipses other industrialized countries.

“We are at war,” Grossman says… in the documentary Do Not Resist…

“Killing’s not the goal…But we all understand that killing is the likely outcome of what we do.”

#Portland #pdx #policing #police #policebrutality #policetraining

@Brad_Rosenheim When #DeSantis announced in 2021 that he wanted to revive the long-dormant #State #Guard, he vowed it would help Floridians during emergencies.

But in the year since its launch, key personnel and a defined mission remain elusive. The state is looking for the program’s third leader in eight months.

According to records reviewed by the Times/Herald and interviews with program volunteers, a number of recruits quit after the first training class last month because they feared it was becoming #too #militaristic.

Weeks into that inaugural June training, one volunteer, a disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.
DeSantis’ office referred questions to Maj. Gen. John D. Haas, Florida’s adjutant general overseeing the Florida National Guard.
In a statement, Haas said the State Guard was a “#military #organization” that will be used not just for emergencies but for “aiding law enforcement with @riots and illegal @immigration.”
“We are aware that some trainees who were removed are dissatisfied,” Haas said. “This is to be expected with any course that demands rigor and discipline.”
Three former members told the Times/Herald the program veered from its original mission.

This classic crossed my mind these days. When I heard it back then as a student at uni and gymnasium I felt the same desire for real #peace, given that Germany took part in wars, rising armament, imperialism / globalism and exploitation of global life and resources already in an unscrupulous manner, but as to militarian and diplomatic wars it was more abstract, and racism and fascism were a much more hidden “feature” of all capitalist countries.

Ex Stalinist, capitalist Russia is openly acting as a fascist and invading, raping its and our neighbour. European countries' politics, political and cultural public discussion are openly #militaristic, social transfer is still just alms and not transfer, but for weapons there's no limit, #fascism, racism, and all that chauvinist stuff is socially acceptable. Fellow white old men and women, listen to the song and feel that all that is no longer abstract for us at all.

Sade - Why can't we live Together ? - Montreux Jazz Festival ( 1984 )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clbqKFM5oQY

#China loves to present itself as a friendly force of peace and progress. But in the #SouthChinaSea aka East Vietnam Sea or West Philippines Sea or North Indonesian Sea this #authoritarian and highly #militaristic one-party state shows its true and nasty, #expansionist nature. It's not just #Indonesia that's facing China's expansionism, it's also #Vietnam, the #Philippines, #Brunei, #Taiwan - and yes, #India. Don't be a cunt in 2020 - don't act like #Beijing.