MIAMI – Rallies are set to take place in South Florida and nationwide Saturday, protesting President Donald Trump’s scheduled military parade in Washington, D.C.
The rallies were planned even before immigration protests broke out in Los Angeles, which have at times turned violent.
Organizers said the protests, called “No Kings,” are a response to authoritarian power.
One of them is set to take place near Bayfront Park, a common gathering place for demonstrations.
“What’s happening in LA is really putting people on high alert and making them really care about these types of issues,” local organizer Raquel Pacheco said.
Other protests are planned at Pride Park in Miami Beach, Young Circle in Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale Beach.
“We always communicate with the police, who have been absolutely phenomenal,” Pacheco said. “We see anybody in the crowd who’s here to antagonize, we’re quick to point those people out.”
The images from Los Angeles heighten concern that outside agitators could ruin a peaceful message.
“I saw the violence there,” Stephen Lanzendorf, visiting Miami from Germany, said. “And this is the right thing ― to use the army for this."
Algerian-American Zahra Humecki said, “This is why we came to this country, to be able to express ourselves, to have a voice, so they want to shut (down) the voice.”
Organizers said they’re taking great pains to ensure that while the protests may be loud and passionate, they are also peaceful.
