Just feet away from a calm beach was a raucous A1A. Thousands turned out for the No Kings Protest in Fort Lauderdale, stretching several blocks north and south from the epicenter at Sunrise Blvd.
Plenty were there with protest signs taking aim at President Donald Trump. Chants ranged from anti-Trump to pro-democracy, each rhyming or making use of clever word play.
The demonstration was one of hundreds held across America on June 14. The date was chosen to coincide with Trump’s $47,000,000 birthday/military parade.
People were protesting the deployment of the U.S. military against civilians in Los Angeles, his immigration policy that has seen people abducted off the street and taken away in unmarked vans, targeting the LGBTQ community, and more.
As a helicopter watched from above, about a half mile away at the Galleria mall, SWAT vehicles and dozens of officers from several Broward County jurisdictions were staged and ready to move in if things turned violent. They weren’t needed.
Organizers had a health and safety team to make sure people could move along the sidewalks and were handing out water. The only emergency vehicles to appear on scene were EMS/ambulances that were called when a couple of people appeared to pass out.
Photo by Carina Mask.
