Floridians in over 70 cities — including Tallahassee, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Tampa — gathered statewide June 14 for the nationwide “No Kings Day” protests, speaking out against Donald Trump’s administration.
Millions of Americans all over the country protested Trump’s military parade marking the Army’s 250th birthday and coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday.
During a press conference June 12 with Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Brevard Country Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned protesters that disobeying or hurting law enforcement would lead to arrest and death.
“If you throw a brick, a fire bomb, or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at because we will kill you, graveyard dead,” he said.
Protests took place statewide with some starting at 9 a.m. and others ending at 7 p.m. Many protested near the Mar-a-Lago area including the Palm Beach resort and home of Trump.
In St. Petersburg, more than 1,000 protesters gathered on street intersections earlier in the day. At 5 p.m. the downtown Orlando protest started with crowds of people standing on the sidewalks and street corners of South Orange Ave. One of those people was Representative Anna V. Eskamani as she helped organize the protest while focusing on safety.
“I feel like it’s important for you to be here so that I can show everyday Floridians that it is important to protest and you’re not going to do it by yourself,” Eskamani shared. “That I will be there with you. And so for me, it’s an act of solidarity.”
Eskamani says people need to be united in their opposition to the attacks on all the communities: immigrants, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights.
Orlando had around 11,000 protesters, Cocoa had around 3500 and Seminole Country had around 1800, according to the organizers of Orlando Fifty-Fifty-One.
The national rally was led by 50501 Movement, a grassroots coalition spanning across all 50 states.
Chloe McElroy, an Orlando protester,says she came to the protest because she doesn’t like the show of power Trump had with a military parade in Washington, D.C.
“We should be doing more for our country. ICE is deporting people left and right, like people who are legally here,” McElroy says. “I am a woman who is in a gay relationship, and I fear for myself and my partner on a daily basis. I fear for the rights that are being taken.”
McElroy held a sign that said “I’m here. I’m queer, no hate here,” and she said her partner made it for her. She says she wanted to promote love instead of hate.
Chants were shouted by protesters throughout the evening, with “Orlando united will never be divided,” and “Show me what Democracy looks like, this is what Democracy looks like.”
The Orlando Police Department had the Police Tag Unit and Emergency Response Team at the protest with some officers holding less-lethal weapons and tear gas. The protest stayed peaceful with some officers closing off the roads and making line formations with their bikes to contain the protest to City Hall.
The volunteers kept reminding protesters that they did not have a permit to be in the streets yet when OPD closed off some of the roads for a moment, protesters took to the streets to dance and wave flags.
Louis Ingenthron, another protester, says diversity is what makes people great. He came to the protest with a bookbag holding masks, first aid, water and other various supplies.
“I’m just trying to be a support person,” Ingenthron says. “I’m a little bit too old to be a frontline person. I stood up there for a while, but it’s easier to carry the stuff to help other people to really do the frontline stuff these days.”
Eskamani says seeing the size of the protest was incredible. The act of protesting as an American is important, she says.
“I mean, the solidarity, the diversity, the generational experiences that are here, it’s very affirming and it demonstrates that Orlando is this beacon of hope in a very difficult state and a very difficult moment in American history, but that we’re not backing down,” Eskamani says.
View photos from Tampa and Orlando below.
Orlando photos by Bellanee Plaza.
Tampa photos by Luis Salazar.
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