From the state Capitol to city halls, shopping centers and highway overpasses, thousands of people took part in “No Kings” rallies Saturday across Sacramento and surrounding counties.
According to its website, “No Kings” is a nationwide day of defiance against the Trump administration. It was planned on Saturday to align with Washington D.C.’s largest military parade in decades to celebrate the U.S. army’s 250th anniversary. It’s also President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day.
Locally, the rallies were fanned out across dozens of locations in Sacramento, the foothills and the Central Valley.
State Capitol
Protesters create a dance circle on 10th Street at the “No Kings” rally Saturday in front of the Capitol in Sacramento.(Chris Felts/CapRadio)
The Peace Justice Choir sang a song from “Les Misérables” about revolution, calling on people to rise up against injustice as thousands of protesters descended on the Capitol Saturday morning for the “No Kings” rally.
“Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people, who will not be slaves again,” the choir sang as protesters, dressed in anti-President Donald Trump clothing and homemade signs chanted along.
According to a permit for the event, the rally was projected to draw 5,000 people, but turnout may have exceeded that amount.
Protesters gather in front of the “No Kings” rally with the Capitol Mall and Tower Bridge as a backdrop as speakers prepare to step in front of the podium Saturday in Sacramento.(Chris Felts/CapRadio)
María Moreno immigrated to the United States from Michoacán, Mexico. She’s a citizen now, but she has undocumented friends and family who are scared about being detained by ICE.
“Some have even told me they don’t want to send their kids to school,” she said in Spanish. “In one family, only one person has papers and the other doesn’t. They’re afraid the one providing for the family could be deported and they might lose everything — their property, their car. He’s spreading terror, panic, fear and putting families into a state of constant fear.”
Moreno drove to the Capitol from Fresno because she believes the Trump administration hasn’t fulfilled any of its promises to the Latino population, many of whom voted for him. Instead, she thinks the administration has targeted her community by branding them as criminals and destroying families.
“That’s why these protests are happening, because he’s not keeping his promises and he’s not acting like a true leader,” she added. “By attacking people as if they were criminals, he’s hurting our communities. He’s spreading fear, he’s separating families and he’s terrifying children.”
Angela Luscombe showed up to the protest in a red cape dress and white bonnet similar to those worn in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She believes California is under attack by the Trump administration.
Marni Fylling (left) and Angela Luscombe in red cape dresses and white bonnets Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Sacramento. “I don’t like to draw attention to myself, but it makes a statement,” Fylling said.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
“The president of the United States has actually unleashed our military on our people,” she said. “We are living in Gilead, literally.”
The retired highway patrol officer said the outfit was inspired by the attacks on women’s rights stemming from Trump’s first term, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to an abortion.
“The justices that he put in place took away Roe v. Wade from us and reversed it,” she said. “I hope the whole country is going to come out today. We are under siege, we really are.”
As a grandmother, Luscombe said she’s protesting to leave a better world for her grandkids.
“People did not see the seriousness of this, and now they’re grabbing people off the street and disappearing people,” she said.
Protesters Saturday, June 14, 2025, across the street from the Capitol in Sacramento.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
Former Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg echoed Luscombe’s sentiments regarding immigrants, noting that U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) was recently dragged, handcuffed and briefly detained for interrupting a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“If it could happen to a sitting U.S. senator, think about the hard-working people in this state,” he said. “Immigrants, refugees, people who are just trying to go about their business— think about what’s happening to them in the hundreds and in the thousands.”
Two California Highway Patrol officers on bikes stationed at the corner of 10th and N St Saturday near the state Capitol.(Chris Felts/CapRadio)
He said he wants Sacramento to continue being a model of inclusion, which he argued could be seen through the city’s many murals.
“We paint walls to bring people in,” he said. “We don’t build walls to keep people out. We welcome the stranger, we welcome the immigrant [and] we welcome the refugee. We are always going to stand for the best of American values and we’re going to stand against the gross violations of law that are occurring.”
El Dorado County
El Dorado County protesters along an overpass Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Placerville. Organizers asked people to fill 10 overpasses between Cameron Park and Placerville.(Courtesy/Mary Elliott-Klemm)
Highway 50 in El Dorado County was the site of more “No Kings” demonstrations Saturday.
Organizers asked people to fill 10 overpasses spanning a 16-mile stretch from Cameron Park to Placerville.
“We wanted to do something a little different,” said Somerset resident Mary Elliott-Klemm, a member of Indivisible El Dorado, which helped organize the protest. She said the county doesn’t have many spaces where large groups could gather, and early on settled on lining the highway crossings.
“We decided that we could really make a statement, because there’s like 50,000 cars going up Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe. And it made a big splash I think.”
Elliott-Klemm said in the days leading up to Saturday more than 1,000 people signed up. She called the turnout incredible.
“Some of the overpasses were so crowded that they had to send people to less crowded overpasses,” she said. “People really came out for this. And coming from such a very Republican, very red county, very conservative county, this is pretty amazing.”
She described the overpass protests as largely peaceful.
“Every so often somebody would drive by and give us a thumbs down, or give us another expletive gesture, but it was very rare and it wasn’t confrontational at all,” she said. “They’re just going by, they didn’t like us, they let us know, and that’s what it was. I mean everybody’s got a right to disagree, that’s for sure.”
Roseville
Protesters wave to a passing car during the “No Kings” rally Saturday, June 14, 2025, in front of the Roseville Galleria.(Greg Micek/CapRadio)
A crowd estimated at over 4,000 people gathered Saturday at a busy intersection in front of the Roseville Galleria to take part in a “No Kings” rally. In the traditionally conservative Placer County, the mood was upbeat and decidedly family-friendly. Demonstrators waved American flags, wore costumes and danced to benign pop music.
On one corner, a woman and her teenage daughter, both in inflatable chicken costumes, held signs reading “Don’t be a chicken” and “Give Trump a Kickin.” A towering inflatable Trump chicken straddled the opposite corner, looking over passing traffic that responded with honks and waves.
Barbara Brass, one of the event’s organizers, stood near the intersection dressed as a clown.
“We have more people here than we’ve ever had,” she said. The Roseville resident began organizing local protests in 2017 at the onset of Trump’s first presidency.
“I knew what was coming,” she said. “My family are Holocaust survivors. I smelled it on him the minute he came down that golden staircase, and I knew what I had to do.”
A portion of the crowd crosses the intersection of Roseville Parkway and Galleria Boulevard during the rally Saturday in Roseville.(Greg Micek/CapRadio)
Brass attended with her wife, a 91-year-old retired military veteran.
“We are out at every event. We belong to every club and organization that is fighting for a democracy,” she said. “Because if we lose it, well, we might as well slit our own throats.”
The Roseville “No Kings” rally was mostly chant-free, featured no speeches, and saw no visible counter-protests — aside from a lone white Ford Mustang that circled the intersection several times with pro-Trump flags before leaving.
Police presence was minimal as well, limited to occasional patrol cars. One drew cheers from the crowd as it turned onto Roseville Parkway.
Woodland
Thousands of people in Yolo County also gathered at a downtown Woodland rally to protest the Trump administration.
Albert Vasquez was born in Woodland and lives in Davis. He helped organizers with the sound system and sent CapRadio videos of large crowds outside the old courthouse.
“There were 4,000 people there, estimated. It was incredible. It’s a very small town,” he said. “They weren’t prepared for the numbers there. They were overwhelmed. They did not expect that kind of turnout. It was really really beautiful.”
Vasquez’s parents settled in Davis after his father served in WWII and got a job at Spreckels Sugar Company.
“My mom and dad left Mexico because it was very corrupt and backward politically,” he said. “They came here because they believe in democracy and they wanted the best for us, and it felt like their dreams were being fulfilled.”
Although he was motivated to come out because of his concern and outrage over the state of the country, Vasquez said Saturday’s rally was ultimately healing.
“It just felt really good. I love this country,” he said. “As imperfect as it is, I do think our country has its best days to come and this is just a bump in the road.”
Background
Sacramento protesters sit on the west steps of the Capitol Saturday, June 14, 2025.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
The “No Kings” rallies come a week after largely peaceful protests mixed with vandalism and looting began in Los Angeles, in response to increased federal immigration enforcement. The Trump administration responded by deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to the city.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Noem promised that the administration would not let up on its crackdown on immigrants without legal status, or on demonstrators protesting on their behalf.
Padilla, the senator from California, attempted to speak with Noem during her press conference and was dragged from the room, pushed to the ground, handcuffed and briefly detained.
Locally, at least eight people have been reportedly detained this week by suspected Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers inside the courthouse at the John E. Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento.
The detainments started Wednesday when two men were handcuffed after leaving immigration court, according to The Sacramento Bee.
Giselle Garcia is a volunteer for NorCal Resist, a mutual aid nonprofit organization that supports individuals in immigration court. She told CapRadio in a text message that at least two people were detained by immigration authorities on Thursday.
“ICE purposely blocked our volunteers from getting their names and info to connect them to our support team,” she wrote.
On Friday, at least four people were detained following their court appearances. An accompaniment volunteer for NorCal Resist declined to give her name, but said the detainees were transferred to a detention facility in Stockton.
CapRadio made multiple attempts to contact the ICE offices in Sacramento and San Francisco to confirm the number of individuals detained this week, but received no response.
Follow us for more stories like this
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.