San Diego shows up in force for second round of ‘No Kings’ protests

They carried protest signs, they waved flags, and they cheered as they drew choruses from the horns of passing cars. A few blasted protest anthems and a few others donned inflatable costumes — newly ubiquitous at protests.

Tens of thousands of San Diegans flocked to streets across the county on Saturday morning to join a movement of millions in a second round of “No Kings” protests opposing the administration of President Donald Trump. About 2,500 events worldwide were planned, including more than a dozen in the region.

The protests come as the country is mired in the third week of a federal shutdown prompted by a partisan impasse in Congress over health care costs and as the administration pushes to deport immigrants — since February, there have been more than 1,800 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the San Diego region alone, three times as many as last year.

Several protesters pointed to fears of overreach and abuse of power by the administration, and many carried signs critical of Trump. Republican leadership has referred to the gatherings as “Hate America” protests.

“I’m horrified by everything the government is doing,” protester Greg Faber said as he joined upwards of 25,000 protesters marching in downtown San Diego. “Trump has completely lost his mind. And Congress isn’t doing anything.”

The 46-year-old Pacific Beach man wore an inflatable frog costume — recently popularized by protesters in Portland — and said attending the Saturday march boosted his spirits. “You go to these protests and realize you aren’t alone,” he said.

He was not alone in wearing an inflatable costume, either. Several people throughout the region wore them, including a handful of people dressed as dinosaurs. One carried a sign reading “I eat fascists for breakfast.” Another held a sign reading “Not another age of ICE.”

Bobby Wallace, a Kumeyaay leader and the man in front of the march, directed the crowd as thousands prepared to begin marching down Harbor Drive.

“They need to do better,” he said of the current administration. “We are here spreading the message of love, for all people, on every continent, everywhere.”

As downtown protesters marched past San Diego resident David Chambers, 64, he held up a Bluetooth speaker playing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”

“I am an eternal optimist,” the retired homebuilder said. “I have hope for America, that the American spirit will rise up and will speak up and will stand up to those who are abusing their power for self gain, self enrichment, for the enrichment of their family members and their friends.”

Several thousand people also packed the sidewalks in Carlsbad, and thousands more rallied on street corners from El Cajon to Rancho Bernardo and well beyond. The widespread protests come as overall public approval of Trump appears to have gradually soured since his inauguration. His approval ratings dropped below 50% in May and have sunk further since, according to a New York Times average of polls conducted by dozens of organizations.

About three dozen protesters also showed up outside the main gate at Camp Pendleton, where Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watched an amphibious assault demonstration to celebrate the Marines’ 250th birthday. State officials, citing safety reasons, closed a stretch of Interstate 5 for the live-fire presentation.

“It’s just so important to be here,” said Russ Clark of Oceanside, after a motorcade thought to include Vance and Hegseth left the military installation about 3 p.m.

Clark and his wife, who both marched in a No Kings protest in San Diego in June, had attended the Carlsbad protest Saturday morning before heading to the Marine Corps base. “Every time I go to one of these I feel inspired to do more and get involved,” Clark said. “You can’t just watch TV.”

The crowd in Carlsbad swelled — estimates ranged from 7,000 to 10,000 — with sidewalks packed over a roughly mile-long stretch of Carlsbad Boulevard north from about Tamarack Avenue through Carlsbad Village. People cheered, laughed and waved handmade signs. And there, too, a few protesters wore inflatable costumes, from chickens to dinosaurs.

“We have a good vibe with a lot of people,” said Oceanside resident Larry Warner, one of the organizers of the Carlsbad protest. “It’s like we are here for something, not against something. We are here for democracy. Somebody has to stand in the gap, and that’s us.”

East in El Cajon, hundreds of protesters lined both sides of a half-mile stretch of Fletcher Parkway. Drivers leaned on their horns in support as people waved back and posed for photos with one another’s signs. “This feels healing,” a man said to his companion.

Some had backed their cars into the parking lot adjacent to the sidewalk and turned the gathering into an impromptu tailgate. One vehicle blasted Creedence Clearwater Revival’s anti-war anthem, “Fortunate Son.” Another played Falco’s Cold War-era track “Der Kommissar.”

For Pam Nuccio, the atmosphere felt familiar. She said the energy reminded her of anti-Vietnam War demonstrations she joined in the late 1960s.

“I think what’s going on is terrifying,” she said. “I live in abject fear that we’re going to be a totalitarian nation. I want to do anything I can to prevent that from happening.”

Farther down the street, Diane Slagle drew steady attention with an oversized Trump mask she bought for $5.99 at Grocery Outlet. She said she walked in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., the day after after Trump’s first inauguration. On Saturday, she was carrying a sign that read “Eschew Fascism.”

“I think people are feeling so much angst,” Slagle said. “I’m beyond terrified, but it makes me feel better to see so many people turn out.”

Many hundreds of people also lined the blocks of Rancho Bernardo Road, while hundreds more crowded the intersection of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Westview Parkway, cheering and drawing choruses of car honks.

Inflatable chickens, unicorns, eagles, cats and frogs danced at passing cars. Others waved flags — American flags, California flags, rainbow flags and transgender flags among them.

Some also carried signs drawing parallels between Trump’s actions and U.S. history, recalling the American Revolution, including one that read: “1776, 2026: The Sequel.” Another referenced a quote from the late Rep. John Lewis, a leader in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement: “Get in good trouble.”

A few protesters who said they had fought wars and demonstrated decades ago said they are disappointed with what they are seeing in the nation today.

“I, at 81 years old, never thought I’d be in a country that’s in turmoil like this,” said Rancho Peñasquitos resident Jackie Felton, who had last protested during the 1960s in New York.

Rancho Bernardo resident Mike Chandler, 72, said he grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and “we had so much hope for this country. We’re so depressed to see where this country is going.”

Santee resident Bob Bradshaw, 71, was a Navy submariner during the Vietnam War. On Saturday he sat on a stool alongside Mira Mesa Boulevard holding a sign critical of Trump. “This is not what I fought for,” he said.

Sheriff’s officials said Saturday evening that the protests remained “peaceful and civil.” San Diego police said no arrests were made and thanked people for “exercising their First Amendment right peacefully and responsibly.”

No Kings protests held earlier this year — on June 14, Trump’s birthday — drew millions of people to thousands of events nationwide, including multiple ones around San Diego County. At that time, at least 60,000 marched through downtown San Diego alone.

Staff writers Walker Armstrong, Kelly Davis, Phil Diehl and Phillip Molnar contributed to this report.