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The Brief

The most important stories for you to know today
  • The L.A. Report
    Listen • 5:46
    Dodgers head to World Series, Military exercises intermittently shut down I-5, Thousands gather for 'No Kings' protests — Saturday Edition
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  • Civics & Democracy
    Scenes from No Kings
    Clever signs at protests in SoCal and around U.S.
    By Meredith Nierman and LAist staff | NPR
    Published October 19, 2025 8:42 AM

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    Two people in chicken costumes hold anti-Trump signs.
    The protest in Burbank on Saturday.
    (
    Jeff Rowe
    /
    LAist
    )

    Topline:

    Demonstrators across the U.S. took to the streets on Saturday as part of a nationwide No Kings rally to protest the policies of the Trump Administration.

    Why now: The demonstrations are part of a larger No Kings movement that emerged in a first wave of protests last June.

    Keep reading... for scenes from SoCal and around the nation.

    Demonstrators across the U.S. took to the streets on Saturday as part of a nationwide No Kings rally to protest the policies of the Trump Administration. The demonstrations are part of a larger No Kings movement that emerged in a first wave of protests last June.
    From major cities to small rural towns, NPR station photographers and LAist staffers were on the ground documenting the events in their communities.

    Read more from SoCal:

    In Southern California

    A sign says: the Trump administration is destroying our country and then notes a range of issues.
    Protesters in downtown L.A.
    (
    Jordan Rynning
    /
    LAist
    )
    A protester holds a sign depicting Trump on a toilet wearing a crown and tweeting.
    The protest in Burbank on Saturday.
    (
    Jeff Rowe
    /
    LAist
    )
    Protesters hold anti-Trump signs.
    The protest in Burbank on Saturday.
    (
    Jeff Rowe
    /
    LAist
    )
    Protesters hold anti-Trump signs.
    The protest in Burbank on Saturday.
    (
    Jeff Rowe
    /
    LAist
    )
    People, including two in caftans, hold anti-Trump signs.
    The protest in Burbank on Saturday.
    (
    Jeff Rowe
    /
    LAist
    )
    Protesters hold anti-Trump signs.
    The protest in Pasadena on Saturday.
    (
    Dana Littlefield
    /
    LAist
    )

    Around the nation

    People march along a busy street, some in revolutionary costume.
    Demonstrators march during a No Kings protest in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2025.
    (
    Beth LaBerge
    /
    KQED
    )
    A Black man with a megaphone addresses people lining a street.
    Legacee Medina of Macon, Ga. leads chanting at a No Kings rally between an elementary school and pickleball courts in Macon on October 18, 2025. The rally moved from its earlier location downtown to stay out of the way of a planned Hispanic festival.
    (
    Grant Blankenship
    /
    Georgia Public Broadcasting
    )

    An overview of a sign being carried that reads: "We the People."
    Protestors sign a "We the People" banner in Hartford, CT.
    (
    Mark Mirko
    /
    Connecticut Public
    )
    A peron in a fluorescent green Statue of Liberty costume.
    Tara Reel, dressed as the "grieving" Statue of Liberty, a recent federal worker who took the deferred resignation program. Large crowds gathered in downtown Washington D.C. on Oct. 18, 2025 for the "No Kings" rally.
    (
    Tyrone Turner
    /
    WAMU
    )
    Close up of a police vest with a pink rose tucked into it.
    A Portland police officer with a rose on their uniform at the "No Kings 2.0" rally in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 18, 2025.
    (
    Eli Imadali
    /
    OPB
    )
    A protester in a mask runs away from police. Smoke rises from the street.
    Police officers shoot pepper balls and throw chemical canisters into a small group of protesters who refused to disperse from 20th and Wewatta Streets in Denver after the main No Kings rally ended on Oct. 18, 2025.
    (
    Kevin J. Beaty
    /
    Denverite
    )
    Protestors line a city street in an overview shot.
    Protestors line the streets in Cuyahoga Falls, OH.
    (
    Ygal Kaufman
    /
    Ideastream
    )
    The Space Needle is visible above a crowd.
    Protesters gather for the No Kings rally at Seattle Center on Saturday, October 18, 2025, in Seattle, Wa.
    (
    Megan Farmer
    /
    KUOW
    )
    People dance in the street.
    An impromptu dance party broke out on in a crowd gathered in Washington, DC.
    (
    Tyrone Turner
    /
    WAMU
    )
    A woman clasps her hands together. A U.S. flag is in the crook of her arm.
    Barbara Hunrath joins thousands of others who took to the streets for a "No Kings" rally on Saturday, October 18, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia.
    (
    Shaban Athuman
    /
    VPM News
    )
    An upside-down U.S. flag has sunlight backlighting it.
    Demonstrators holding signs and an upside-down American flag as a signal of distress in Fort Myers, Florida.
    (
    Amanda Inscore Whittamore
    /
    WGCU
    )
    Protest signs focus on health care.
    Protesters wave banners at the No Kings rally on Boston Common in Ma.
    (
    Robin Lubbock
    /
    WBUR
    )
    A sign reads: No troops in Oakland
    Rep. Lateefah Simon speaks during the No Kings National Day of Action at Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif. on Oct. 18, 2025.
    (
    Gustavo Hernandez
    /
    KQED
    )
    A man carries a U.S. flag with 13 stars.
    Joe Bondulich carries a flag past the crowd gathered on the side of College Street in Macon, GA. "This is the flag the last time we fought kings. This is original 13 stars and 13 stripes," Bondulich said, "So this is the original Revolution flag."
    (
    Grant Blankenship
    /
    Georgia Public Broadcasting
    )
    Women in white dresses and red sashes wave U.S. flags.
    Samantha Shub holds up a flag as the 'No Kings" protest ramps up in Plano, TX.
    (
    Yfat Yossifor
    /
    KERA
    )
    A state capitol is in the distance as protesters crowd a street.
    Protestors chant while marching down Congress Avenue during the "No Kings" Protest in Austin, Texas.
    (
    Kennedy Weatherby
    /
    KUT News
    )
    One sign reads: The pilgrims were illegal
    Crowds gather at the Capitol in Austin, TX.
    (
    Patricia Lim
    /
    KUT News
    )
    Two Native Americans are on steps at a mic.
    Raven Payment (l) andTyler Crazybear (r) speak as protesters fill the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
    (
    Kevin J. Beaty
    /
    Denverite
    )
    A crowd holds handmade poster signs.
    Protestors gathered at City Hall Park in Burlington, VT.
    (
    Brian Stevenson
    /
    Vermont Public Media
    )

    A sign

    Protesters stand in the rain as cars drive by.
    Amy Gryder (l) and her daughter, Ella Walther (r), stand outside for the No Kings Protest on Mid Rivers Mall Drive in St. Peter's, MO. Walther says when it comes to civil liberties that goes for everybody. "This isn't a right or left issue. This is a right or wrong issue," Walther said. "What's happening right now impacts everyone."'
    (
    Paola Rodriguez
    /
    STLPR
    )
    A person in a costume carries a "NOPE" sign where the E is a crown on its side.
    Jen Sandoval aka "Día de los Meow-tos" attends the "No Kings" protest in Prineville, Ore., on Oct. 18, 2025. Sandoval, 54, who is Mexican-American says she's protesting ICE detentions and deportations.
    (
    Kathryn Styer Martínez
    /
    OPB
    )
    protesters are in a crowded downtown square.
    Protestors marched through downtown Miami.
    (
    Diego Perdomo
    /
    WLRN
    )

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