'No Kings' Protesters Line Arlington Overpasses To Protest Trump 'Fascism'

ARLINGTON, VA — A handful of volunteers gathered at the 34th Street South bridge over I-395 in Fairlington around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday to begin hanging signs on the protective fencing along both sides of the overpass.

“We're informally organized, but we are organized in drawing attention to what's going on with the current administration, the authoritarianism, the fascism, the brown shirts, but also to support all of the people that are commuting, that are working or that have layoffs looming over their heads,” said Greg, who was one of the organizers of the Fairlington protest.

“Bridge and banner brigades” were deployed at overpasses across the DMV as part of Saturday’s “No Kings” rallies nationwide organized by volunteer networks affiliated with Indivisible, WoFA and Third Act. The demonstrations were timed to coincide with a military parade commemorating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary that falls on President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. It was also Flag Day.

“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance,” according to organizers. “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism — and show the world what democracy really looks like.”

More than 100 pro-democracy advocacy groups have signed on in support of No Kings. There won’t be a No Kings event in Washington, D.C., where the military parade and festivities are estimated to cost between $25 million and $45 million.

“It’s to show our elected officials in Congress that there's a lot of us out there, and we don't like what's going on, and we don't like that you're not doing anything about it,” Greg said. At the end of the day, he reported that about 100-125 people had participated in the demonstration in Fairlington.

One of the people taking part in Saturday’s demonstration in Arlington was Bill Nye “The Science Guy,” who peddled his bike from Washington, D.C., to the Potomac Street Pedestrian Bridge over I-66.

“We’re here to raise awareness that we do not want our government to be run by a monarch or someone acting like a monarch,” he said. “We are, apparently, slipping our way in that direction.”

People who have aligned themselves with President Trump have spent 10 years taking advantage of congressional districts and judgeships to enable the administration to apply laws that were created ad hoc to deal with situations centuries ago and misapplied in the modern world, Nye said.

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• NJ Decries Trump's 'Unlawful' Deployment Of Military During ICE Protests

On June 7, President Trump invoked a legal provision that allowed him to deploy federal service members when there is "a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

Troops touched down last Sunday as dozens were arrested in Los Angeles and San Francisco over the weekend. Fires, looting and violence grew from tensions between crowds of protesters and law enforcement in the wake of recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity to detain people in California.

According to multiple news outlets, ICE was planning to deploy tactical units to various cities as it cracks down on people said to be living in the country illegally. ICE Special Response Teams were reportedly coming to Northern Virginia this weekend, as well as Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Seattle, reports state.

SRTs are tactical units under ICE that are used for operations which are considered high risk, NBC10 reports.

“When you look at history, everybody remarks on the speed at which things unravel,” Nye said. “Right now, at the end of this five months, and already we're using these seldom-used laws to break everything.”