Weekend roundup: ‘No Kings’ protests large and small pop up across Pennsylvania

The “No Kings” protests that took place on Saturday appear to have claimed the crown for the most-attended day of rallies in recent history. 

From large demonstrations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to several other street-packing protests across the commonwealth, the events in Pennsylvania were among nearly 2,000 demonstrations occurring nationwide. 

The protests, organized by groups such as the 50501 Movement and Indivisible, were in opposition to the military parade in Washington, D.C., celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump’s immigration actions. 

In Philadelphia, the “No Kings” rally brought tens of thousands of marchers, with the group going from Center City to the Philadelphia Museum of Art with American flags and signs reading “deport the mini-Mussolinis” in tow. 

Philadelphia was chosen as the hub because “there's an indelible link between Philadelphia and between the freedoms and the ideals that the country was founded upon,” Joel Payne, spokesperson for MoveOn, one of the event’s organizers, said. 

The demonstrations took place days after more than a dozen people protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions s were arrested in Philadelphia following a clash with police officers, and cities like Bethlehem, Erie and Scranton saw rallies in direct response to local ICE raids. 

With Saturday’s demonstrations mostly going on without incident, Gov. Josh Shapiro thanked the “over 100,000 Pennsylvanians in urban, rural, and suburban communities across our Commonwealth” for “peacefully” making their voices heard.

“Our democracy was born here in Pennsylvania – and over the last two and a half centuries, we’ve made progress by lifting up our voices in order to build a more just and free nation,” he said.

“Thank you to every Pennsylvanian who peacefully organized, and to state and local law enforcement who ensured they could be heard safely and lawfully. Here in Pennsylvania, we will continue to protect the right to peacefully protest and ensure our communities are safe.”

Elsewhere in the commonwealth, downtowns and small towns were filled with protestors. Thousands gathered in downtown Pittsburgh, according to WESA, with hundreds more demonstrators gathering at a separate but similar event in the city’s Hill District. 

On Saturday, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey denounced ICE, referring to the federal agency as a "terrorist organization" whose efforts target "people that look like us."

Gainey urged the crowd to “fight for the rights of those that can’t be heard, of those that are scared, of those that don’t have a voice.

“America has never been changed without the power of the people demonstrating in dark times,” Gainey added.

In the Lehigh Valley, demonstrations took place throughout Northampton and Lehigh counties, with Bethlehem, Easton, Salisbury Township and others seeing up to a thousand demonstrators gather in the rain to speak out against the Trump administration. 

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represents all of Carbon, Lehigh, and Northampton counties in the 7th congressional district, spent Saturday in Bangor honoring the borough’s 150th anniversary. 

Referring to the “No Kings” rallies in his district, as well as what he said was consistent protesting occurring outside his offices, Mackenzie said some demonstrations have crossed the line and that interfering with traffic was irresponsible, according to LehighValleyNews. 

"I think it is getting to the point where some of these people are taking it beyond the freedom of speech. It's getting to and leading to political violence," he said, pointing to the assassination of a Minnesota state representative early Saturday morning.

Protests also took place in many other municipalities, including Erie, Pottstown, Norristown, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre, as well as across Central Pennsylvania. 

Demonstrators gathered in Maytown in Lancaster County on Friday to show solidarity with Saturday’s participants. Across Central Pennsylvania on Saturday, protests also took place in Harrisburg, Lancaster, York, Gettysburg, Carlisle, Hershey, Chambersburg and Mifflintown.