Thousands rally across the US to protest Trump

(Minneapolis) “No Kings, No ICE, No War”: thousands of processions march across the United States on Saturday against Donald Trump, his anti-immigration policy and his war against Iran.

This is the third time in less than a year that America has been called to the streets by this movement, which has established itself as the most important unifier of protest since the return of the Republican billionaire to the White House.

More than 3,000 demonstrations were organized across the country, from New York to Alaska, from cities to the countryside.

“We believe the Constitution is under threat in multiple ways. The situation is not normal, not acceptable. That’s why we’re here, to help keep people safe and make sure their voices are heard,” Marc McCaughey, a 36-year-old veteran who came to demonstrate in Atlanta, Georgia, told AFP.

In the capital Washington, a few blocks from the White House, Robert Pavosevich, 67, says that Donald Trump “is only lying”. “I think more and more people are angry, and I think things will slowly change,” he says.

The American president played golf at his private club in Florida on Saturday afternoon.

From Niro to New York…

In Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Boston, participants marched with signs displaying anti-war messages and peace symbols, after a month of conflict in Iran.

In Michigan, in Lansing, a demonstrator brandished a sign “No Kings, No ICE (immigration police, Editor’s note), No War”.

Tens of thousands of people marched in the streets of New York, where actor Robert De Niro, a fierce critic of Donald Trump, opened the march.

“Other presidents have already tested the constitutional limits of their power, but none have represented such an existential threat to our freedoms and our security (…) It must be stopped,” he urged.

On the other side of the Atlantic, in Rome, Amsterdam, Madrid and Athens, rallies against the American president also took place.

Around twenty thousand people marched in the Italian capital, also celebrating the defeat of the far-right government in a referendum on justice.

“We do not want a world governed by kings, oligarchies, who decide above us, fight people and wage war among themselves,” assured Andrea Nossa, a 29-year-old Milanese researcher, wearing a t-shirt celebrating the French Revolution.

…Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis

“Since our last demonstration, this government has plunged us further into war,” denounces Naveed Shah, head of Common Defense, a veterans’ organization and member of the No Kings coalition.

“At home, we saw citizens killed in the streets by militarized forces. We saw families torn apart and immigrant communities targeted,” adds this veteran, referring to the events that recently shook Minneapolis.

This Democratic city in the Midwest, epicenter at the start of the year of the American government’s brutal anti-immigration offensive, is presented as the nerve center of the demonstrations with its twin city, Saint-Paul, where 200,000 people demonstrated, according to No Kings.

Rock legend Bruce Springsteen came to perform his song there Streets of Minneapoliswritten in tribute to the two Americans who fell under the bullets of federal agents during immigration police operations, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In the crowd, some demonstrators brandished “ICE out” signs, or others demanded “justice” for the two victims.

On the steps of the state Capitol, a large banner summed up the general mood: “The Revolution Begins in Minnesota.”

The organizers specify that two thirds of the people who expressed their intention to join the demonstrations live outside major cities, which represents a marked increase compared to the previous day of mobilization.