Los Angeles anti-ICE protesters harass DHS agents, military members on Independence Day



LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Tensions are still high in southern California as immigration enforcement operations continue in the aftermath of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots last month.

The Department of Homeland Security has deployed additional resources to the region to carry out President Donald Trump's directive to arrest illegal immigrants despite local resistance.

The unlawful assembly declaration angered the crowd; they claimed it was police who made it unlawful by pushing them into the street.

That resistance did not take a break this Independence Day.

Multiple far-left groups organized protests around Los Angeles County, with protesters mainly focusing on city hall and the federal building nearby. Waving Mexican flags and upside down American flags, the anti-ICE and anti-Trump crowd spread out to the front and the back of the federal building where U.S. Marines, National Guardsmen, and DHS agents were stationed to protect the facility.

Many in the crowd berated the service members for protecting the building that rioters had targeted barely a month ago. One agitator threatened to "knock" their teeth in because he did not care about going to jail.

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Toward Friday evening protesters gathered behind the federal building to prevent federal vehicles from going in and out of the complex. This forced DHS agents and military members to come out to clear a path for the vehicles, which the crowd sometimes attacked.

RELATED: Border Patrol arrest at Home Depot punches hole in Democrats' narrative

  Image source: Julio Rosas/Blaze Media

An unlawful assembly was declared after agents briefly clashed with the crowd and rioters threw bottles at the police line. With help from Los Angeles Police officers, DHS agents and military members pushed the dwindling crowd away from federal building. The unlawful assembly declaration angered the crowd; they claimed it was police who made it unlawful by pushing them into the street.

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While the protest was supposed to last until midnight, the upset crowd was forced away from the federal building by 8 p.m. Blaze Media did not observe any arrests during the course of the day.

Democrat Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass used Independence Day to call for an end to the federal immigration enforcement operations.

"This July 4th, let’s remember what patriotism really means: defending our values, our people, and our Constitution. Send the troops home. Stop the raids. Stand for freedom," she said on X.

Once Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill, the mayor again voiced her frustration with the federal government enforcing immigration laws.

"Instead of investing in housing, jobs, or health care, they’re funding fear — tearing families apart in our neighborhoods. These raids must end," she added.

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Just 7 House Democrats Vote To Condemn Violent Los Angeles Riots

'Not tolerate violence against any law enforcement'

‘Obviously I Disagree’: Top House Dem Says With Straight Face There Were No Riots In LA

We will not be lectured

'BIG WIN': Newsom's losing streak continues as 9th Circuit Court delivers Trump more great news



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overruled a Clinton judge and delivered some bad news to California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that might wipe the default grin off his face.

How it started

Exercising his constitutional and statutory powers, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles on June 7, noting that the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots constituted "a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States."

'It is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3).'

Newsom — among the many Democrats who downplayed the violence and appeared sympathetic to the rioters' cause — asked a federal district court judge to force Trump to surrender control of the federalized California National Guard.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, a Bill Clinton appointee, sided with Newsom, claiming on June 12 that Trump's actions "were illegal — both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution."

Newsom subsequently told Trump, "You must relinquish your authority of the National Guard back to me and back to California," then smugly attacked the president in a press conference where he called Trump "weak."

The governor's gloating was cut short when the Trump administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and secured an emergency ruling to return command of the National Guard to the president.

How it's going

Newsom optimistically stated on Tuesday, days ahead of the appellate court's ruling, "I'm confident in the rule of law. I'm confident in the Constitution of the United States. I'm confident in the reasoned decision issued last week by a very well-respected federal judge. And I'm confident that common sense will prevail here."

Common sense prevailed — just not in Newsom's favor.

RELATED: Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass to California: 'Look what you made us do!'

 Mario Tama/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled unanimously in the president's favor, granting a stay of the Clinton judge's order.

The appeals court concluded that "it is likely that the president lawfully exercised his statutory authority under § 12406(3), which authorizes federalization of the National Guard when 'the president is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States'" and indicated Hegseth's transmittal of the order "likely satisfied the statute's procedural requirement that federalization orders be issued 'through' the governor."

'The Judges obviously realized that Gavin Newscum is incompetent and ill prepared.'

The court also recognized that Trump had "a colorable basis" for deploying the National Guard, citing evidence that the anti-ICE rioters:

  • interfered "with the ability of federal officers to execute the laws";
  • threw objects at ICE vehicles attempting to complete a law enforcement operation;
  • threw Molotov cocktails and vandalized property;
  • "'pinned down' several [Federal Protective Service] officers defending federal property by throwing 'concrete chunks, bottles of liquid, and other objects,' and used 'large rolling commercial dumpsters as a battering ram' in an attempt to breach the parking garage of a federal building."

To Newsom's likely chagrin, the court noted further that "the president's failure to issue the federalization order directly 'through' the governor of California does not limit his otherwise lawful authority to call up the National Guard" and that "Newsom had no power to veto or countermand the president's order."

Newsom, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other Democrats, suggested that the presence of the National Guard was inflammatory and prompted more unrest.

RELATED: The Democrats’ key to success

 California National Guard troops outside a Los Angeles federal building on June 9, 2025. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

The appellate court was not buying what the governor was selling, noting both that "these concerns are counterbalanced by the undisputed fact that federal property has been damaged and federal employees have been injured" and that such concerns "are too speculative."

President Trump celebrated the ruling, suggesting the decision affirms his ability to take similar action elsewhere if necessary.

"BIG WIN in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the President's core power to call in the National Guard!" the president wrote on Truth Social. "The Judges obviously realized that Gavin Newscum is incompetent and ill prepared, but this is much bigger than Gavin, because all over the United States, if our Cities, and our people, need protection, we are the ones to give it to them should State and Local Police be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done."

"This is a Great Decision for our Country, and we will continue to protect and defend Law abiding Americans. Congratulations to the Ninth Circuit, America is proud of you tonight!" added Trump.

Newsom expressed his disappointment, vowing to press forward with his "challenge to President Trump's authoritarian use of U.S. military soldiers against citizens."

Judge Breyer is reportedly contemplating whether to slap Trump with another injunction, restricting the president's use of National Guard troops in Los Angeles.

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Hegseth blocks Democrats’ smear tactics in fiery Senate showdown: 'I won't fall for it'



Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday regarding the department's fiscal year 2026 budget request — his fourth hearing this month.

Hegseth faced heated exchanges during the hearing as Democratic lawmakers pressed him with hypothetical scenarios aimed at portraying President Donald Trump's administration as overreaching and authoritarian.

'It's all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won't fall for it.'

Democrats grilled Hegseth on the Trump administration's strategy amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran, the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, and the termination of "qualified" military leaders.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) questioned Hegseth's leadership abilities, claiming the DOD "has been consumed by high turnover and disarray" since the secretary's confirmation.

RELATED: Pete Hegseth defends deployment of troops in response to anti-ICE riots

  Senator Jack Reed. Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Hegseth countered Reed's critique by highlighting global instability under the prior administration, citing the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

"That was a view of weakness and chaos unleashed by the Biden administration under the previous defense secretary," Hegseth said, referring to former Sec. Lloyd Austin. "So, if a few changes have to be made in the first portion of my term in order to get it right, I think that's pretty acceptable to establish deterrence and rebuild our military and restore the warrior ethos."

Several Democratic leaders decried Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid the anti-immigration enforcement protests that turned destructive and violent.

"What he's doing may well be illegal," declared Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). "I want to ask you about contingency plans for the use of active duty military in other cities. Do you have such contingency plans?"

Blumenthal noted that he was "deeply disturbed and alarmed" by Trump's move.

Hegseth retorted, "Senator, I would just say, we share the president's view that, as you characterized it, we are 'deeply disturbed and alarmed' that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers are being attacked while doing their job in any city in America."

Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also questioned Hegseth about the deployed troops, pressing the secretary with outlandish hypotheticals.

"You claim lethality is your top priority. Do you plan to unleash this lethal force against U.S. citizens and civilians in L.A. and other cities?" Hirono asked.

Hegseth rejected the senator's characterization.

"I would like to have a professional response," Hirono snapped.

"Given this regime's dangerous policy of mobilizing troops inside the U.S., the politicizing of the military is a legitimate concern," she continued. "If ordered by the president — I'm going to ask you once again — to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs, would you carry out such an order from the president?"

Hegseth replied, "I reject the premise of your question and the characterization that I would be given or are given unlawful orders. It's all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won't fall for it."

RELATED: President Trump has constitutional and statutory authority to use the National Guard domestically

  Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) used his time to defend Hegseth after Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) claimed that the secretary would never be "held accountable" for allegedly disclosing military actions over the messaging application Signal.

Mullin fired back, "I wonder who was held accountable for the disastrous withdrawal out of Afghanistan, where 13 soldiers died and left thousands of Americans behind underneath Secretary Austin's lead?"

"Did one person get held accountable during that time?" Mullins questioned.

The senator defended Hegseth's record at the DOD after Democrats proclaimed that the department had been plagued with turmoil under his leadership.

Mullin noted that the DOD had the "lowest morale measured in our military history" and "absolutely disastrous" retention rates under Austin.

"You had recruitments that wasn't even meeting lowered standards that you guys lowered," Mullin told his fellow lawmakers. "Now, we have the highest morale that's been measured in decades in the military. We have recruiting numbers that are exceeding expectations."

  

 

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Mina Kimes and Dan Le Batard 'CAPE UP' for immigration insurrectionists



Sports journalists Mina Kimes and Dan Le Batard appear to have both gotten similar talking points about the Los Angeles protests by downplaying what’s been going on when it comes to those rioting in the streets.

“The disparity [between] what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm,” Kimes wrote in a post on Blue Sky social.

“She’s saying that we’re being misled on what’s transpiring in Los Angeles with these illegal immigrant riots and protests,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”


“I staunchly and severely disagree with my crouching tiger colleague, ESPN quarterback whisperer, and the campaign manager of one Karen Bass. She’s not just a supporter. Literally, Jason, she actually went on campaign events with Miss Bass,” BlazeTV contributor Steve Kim chimes in.

“Here’s the issue,” he continues. “It’s not like every single block in our fine city is on fire. You don’t see protesters on every single red light. There’s ways to avoid a lot of the disruption and the unrest, but keep this in mind — by her definition, then 9/11 only affected a small block of Manhattan and the Pentagon.”

Dan Le Batard’s take wasn’t much better.

“What is happening in California, what is happening in Los Angeles — never mind the optics of it. The optics of it are horrifying enough. The reality of what is happening there with peaceful protests and what feels like state militia rubber-bulleting about basic American freedoms because we are now going for a whiter nation,” Le Batard said.

“Peaceful protests,” Kim comments, “this goes back to the BLM riots.”

“You have this big receipt, billions of dollars' worth of property damage and businesses lost. They are anything but peaceful,” he adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

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Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass to California: 'Look what you made us do!'



You’ve probably been watching the riots in Los Angeles.

For about a week now, angry foreign nationals (mostly Mexican), angry legal residents originally from Mexico, and lunatic leftist white American Democrats have been blocking highways, hurtling bricks at police from overpasses, shooting off fireworks into crowds, and setting cars on fire.

Your eyes are lying to you. You don’t see that man waving a Mexican flag while he fires off a bottle rocket into a group of cops.

Why? Because they’re very angry that laws against illegal immigration are being enforced. And they're doing more than "protesting" this — they're actively targeting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers charged with carrying this out.

That’s the purpose of posting the known locations and identities of ICE officers on social media. They want them hurt or even killed.

 Agitator Jack Quillin, who was arrested for posting the location of ICE raids live online, is pretending now that he’s sorry, undoubtedly in hopes that his punishment will be light. But you would be a fool if you believed people like this don’t hope to see cops and right-wingers dead.

Nothing to see here

I’ve been watching it all too, but it’s the response of California officials that has me fascinated.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) tells the press that there’s no violence that needs a police response. Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D) claims there’s no violence or lawlessness in Los Angeles. Governor Gavin Newsom (D) says that the president sending in the National Guard is what caused the violence.

It all feels so familiar, and the reason why is because I grew up in a home that runs on the same deranged rules that modern American left-wing politics run on. For most of my life, I was under the spell of an important person in my life who behaved the way Gavin Newsom, Maxine Waters, and Karen Bass are behaving.

That person was my mother.

Mental derangement

My mother behaved that way because she had a mental derangement called a Cluster B personality disorder. You know this colloquially as clinical narcissism and clinical levels of emotional reactivity that comes out in screaming outbursts, lies, and blaming other people for what you yourself have done.

My weekly commentary show, "Disaffected," has a thesis: Abuse that starts in the home between spouses, or from parent to child, grows and expands into our public politics.

The narcissistic, deranged mind of my mother (that’s the Cluster B personality) is the same kind of mind that we find in the political and cultural left. Yes, I’m saying that I believe many of these politicians, and their voters, are truly diagnose-ably personality disordered. Yes, I’m saying that this is just “child abuse” and “spousal abuse” scaled up to the public stage.

It’s not that it’s “like” domestic abuse; it is the very same thing.

The real 'gaslighters'

Cause and effect are reversed. Your eyes are lying to you. You don’t see that man waving a Mexican flag while he fires off a bottle rocket into a group of cops. You’re not watching people throw bricks off highway overpasses. Do you understand? You’re crazy if you think you see that, and if it’s happening, people like you made the protesters get violent.

The proper term for these kinds of lies is “gaslighting.”

I know that you’re probably tired of hearing that, and you probably associate it with left-wing complaints. That’s a mistake. Gaslighting is real, and it is effective. It has worked on you many times in your life, I guarantee it.

The left simply reverses the truth — leftists hurt others, then claim to be victims. They lie and distort reality to make other people think that they are crazy, then the leftist accuses the person she bamboozled of “gaslighting” her!

'Mommie Dearest'

I learned about it at home. If you’ve seen the movie "Mommie Dearest," you have a good idea of what kind of childhood I had. We were poor, not rich, and we weren’t famous. But everything else was much the same.

Think back to the scene where Joan Crawford finds her 8-year-old daughter, Christina, playing make-believe in front of Joan’s mirror. Christina imitates her mother at press conferences, addressing her “wonderful fans.”

Joan’s ego is so bruised she starts screaming at her daughter and hacking her hair off. Joan yells, “You vain, spoiled child, trying to find ways to make people look at you. Why are you always looking at yourself in the mirror? Why are you doing that? Tell me!”

  


'Look what you're making me do'

Joan was projecting her own traits onto her daughter. My mother did the same. When she became frenzied with frustration, she would push me down onto my knees on the dining room floor, commanding me to “humble myself” while she hit me on the face and about the head. As her anger got to a peak of red-faced fury, she would shake me until my head bobbled and scream, “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?”

RELATED: Had an abusive mother? Then you understand the left's anti-Trump insanity

  AllNikArt/Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

A longtime babysitter named Theresa was similarly afflicted. Theresa lived down the block, and a bunch of us kids went to her apartment after school to be watched until our parents got home from work. Theresa had a love-hate relationship with children. She liked them enough to babysit and provide us with hundreds of comic books to keep us entertained, but she would lose control when we got too loud.

Maybe we screamed too much playing tag; maybe our feet stepped into the flower bed. Theresa would call us into the living room. She did her hair like Alice the maid from "The Brady Bunch" and wore horn-rimmed glasses with double-knit polyester shorts.

Theresa would have us children sit on the floor before her as she perched on the couch. Looking us in the eye, she’d take the palm of her hands and slap her inner thighs until they turned black and blue.

“You’re working my nerves and making me do this!” she’d yell, slamming her own thighs. “LOOK WHAT YOU’RE MAKING ME DO!”

That’s what Gavin Newsom is doing.

Narcissistic reversal

“Thanks to our law enforcement officers and the majority of Angelenos who protested peacefully, this situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown,” Newsom said in a video posted on X. “But that’s not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation; he chose more force.”

Translation: WHY IS DONALD TRUMP MAKING THE RIOTERS BE VIOLENT?

That’s what they’re all doing, the Democrats and city leaders blaming Trump, the police, the National Guard, or ICE, for the criminal violence of street thugs.

This is called a “narcissistic reversal.” It’s what my mother did when she blamed me for “hurting” her while she was beating me. It’s what Theresa did when she told 7-year-olds they were forcing her to beat her legs black and blue. It’s what Newsom is doing when he claims that Trump enforcing the law is what’s making illegal aliens and Americans break the law.

The Bible knows this devilish trick. Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.”

A taste of home

These denials, these reversals of blame, are familiar to me because I was raised from birth in just the kind of environment you see out on the streets and in politicians’ podiums this week. Yes, I am saying that politicians on the left are, in my view, behaving exactly as you would expect from patients with borderline or narcissistic personality disorders (and antisocial PD/sociopathy, too).

It’s all out in the open now. Turn on your TV, open social media, and it’s like watching a screening of "Mommie Dearest" or "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," but it’s all presented to you as if it were perfectly normal.

If you have felt for years that something is really psychologically off about the left, you were right. Maybe this essay has given you a framework that can help you understand what specifically that thing is that’s so “off.” I believe it’s Cluster B psychopathology. Domestic abuse has gone public and feral.

EXCLUSIVE: Most Hispanic Voters Back Trump Deportation Policy Amid Anti-ICE Riots, Poll Shows

'Reinforce the will of the people'

Soros-tied No Kings protesters plot to sabotage US Army's 250th anniversary parade



As President Donald Trump's administration prepares a grand and patriotic 250th anniversary celebration for the U.S. Army, George Soros-funded progressive activists are plotting a meticulously organized counterprotest to politicize the military milestone.

The White House has stated that the Grand Military Parade scheduled for June 14 in Washington, D.C., aims to "celebrate the legacy of the Army and express our deepest gratitude to those who have served and continue to serve in its ranks."

'That AFL-CIO is openly involved in sponsoring the No Kings rally should raise extreme concerns as to the rally's true purpose.'

"For 250 years, the U.S. Army has defended our nation, upheld the ideals of freedom and democracy, and served with courage at home and abroad. From the Revolutionary War to today, the Army's soldiers have embodied duty, honor, and sacrifice, ensuring the security of the United States and its people," the administration's America 250 website reads.

Despite this tribute to military service and national unity, progressive activists backed by wealthy donors and taxpayer-funded groups are orchestrating a nationwide protest to overshadow the Army's milestone with an anti-Trump agenda.

RELATED: White House hammers liberals for gaslighting about LA riots: Burning cities isn't justice — it's chaos

  White House prepares for U.S. Army 250th anniversary parade. Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Progressive protests target Army's anniversary

The Indivisible Project, a progressive organization formed in 2016 to counter Trump, and its "pro-democracy partner organizations" announced in early May a nationwide effort to protest the Army's parade.

With thousands of events registered across the U.S., the demonstration, dubbed the "No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance," aims to steal the spotlight from the historic celebration by mobilizing against "corrupt, authoritarian politics."

The No Kings movement has framed the patriotic event as Trump's "self-aggrandizing $100 million birthday celebration," claiming the president is attempting to use the parade to flex his authoritarian power on the world stage.

However, that framing is misleading, as the parade's date coincides with multiple events: Trump's 79th birthday, the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, and Flag Day.

When asked about the No Kings protests, Trump responded, “I don't feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.”

The No Kings movement has used alarmism to rally progressives against Trump, spreading unsubstantiated allegations that his administration is guilty of grave abuses, including suppressing free speech, detaining political opponents, threatening to deport American citizens, defying the court, and "disappear[ing] people off the streets."

"President Trump has already indicated that he's aiming for at least a third term," a No Kings host toolkit reads.

The No Kings movement is mobilizing its base with an exaggerated narrative that casts Trump as a menacing authoritarian dictator wielding unchecked power, painting him as a threat that demands urgent action to halt his perceived tyranny.

'All people who show up with guns are not going to be our enemies, and everybody who shows up with one is not going to be at an elevated risk for using their weapon.'

Beyond portraying the military parade as Trump's personal birthday celebration, No Kings is strategically avoiding staging protests in the D.C. area, instead hoping to draw attention away from the parade's venue.

Reclaiming the American flag is key for the movement to succeed in counterprogramming the Army's anniversary event. Those participating in the protests were encouraged to bring the American flag to "reclaim this symbol and remind the world that the freedom we stand for is freedom for all."

RELATED: 250 years after the British invaded my hometown

  U.S. Army soldiers prepare for military parade. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Who's behind the No Kings protest?

The massive coordinated effort further fuels concerns that the recent protests, including those that led to destructive and violent riots in Los Angeles, are funded by activist organizations and left-wing groups with deep pockets.

While Indivisible Project claims it is a "grassroots" movement, advertising the No Kings protests as a "march against authoritarian politics and billionaire takeover," it relies on vast sums from left-leaning tycoons notorious for manipulating elections and movements. These considerable grants and donations enable it to organize the large-scale and synchronized rally while disguising its elite-driven agenda as a people-powered revolt.

Indivisible Project's most recent tax filings reveal that the group reported $12.6 million in revenue in 2023. Indivisible Civics, another 501(c)(3) under Indivisible's mission, reported $5.1 million in revenue in 2023. Combined, the two organizations have over $11 million in assets.

Further shattering Indivisible's "grassroots" claims, George Soros' Open Society Foundations has heavily funded the group, providing $7.2 million in grants since 2018, including $3 million in 2023.

DataRepublican has also linked No Kings' funding to the ACLU and its various local chapters.

Likewise, several local branches of the AFL-CIO, a massive labor union, sponsored the No Kings rallies, including in Minnesota, where Governor Tim Walz is slated to speak, and Kentucky. The AFL-CIO has received millions of dollars in taxpayer funds yearly. The AFL-CIO's Solidarity Center reported receiving $69 million in federal grants in 2023 and another $59 million in 2022.

"AFL-CIO is one of the key taxpayer-funded organizations in effecting regime change all over the world," DataRepublican warned. "That AFL-CIO is openly involved in sponsoring the No Kings rally should raise extreme concerns as to the rally's true purpose."

No Kings' reliance on billionaire backers exposes its hypocrisy, crusading against elite control while embodying the wealth-driven influence it claims to oppose.

RELATED: Billionaire Walmart heiress funds anti-Trump chaos, backs radical 'No Kings' protests

  Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Meticulous planning and endless resources

Since announcing the protests on May 6, in just over one month, the Indivisible Project and its partners have put together a highly structured plan for the demonstrations, including hosting regularly scheduled virtual meetings with volunteer protesters leading up to the rallies, assigning individuals to take on specific roles during the demonstrations, and providing numerous training and media assets.

Those who signed up to partake in the protests, particularly those volunteering to lead in any capacity, are provided with links to "Know Your Rights Training" hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union, "Safety and Deescalation Training," "Media and Messaging Training," and a 32-page "Peacekeeper Training Workbook."

Protest "hosts" are also provided with an 18-page "toolkit" and a help hotline available 12 hours a day from June 11 through June 14.

A No Kings team reviews and approves each scheduled event within 48 to 72 hours of the initial request. The group anticipates over 2,000 protests across the nation with millions of attendees.

Protesters are assigned to detailed roles for the demonstrations — acting as hosts, safety leads, police liaisons, peacekeepers, and media speakers — and provided coaching on how to show up to the event and respond to various situations.

No Kings' virtual training meetings revealed a sophisticated level of organization.

During a No Kings' "Host Update Call + Marshals Training" meeting on Wednesday evening, organizers provided de-escalation role-play scenarios to teach protesters how to handle hecklers, counterprotesters, and even "somebody on our side" who may try to "incite violent action" by bringing "paint balloons or rocks so that they can encourage other people to throw things."

The presenters also discussed the possibility of protesters and counterprotesters bringing firearms to the demonstrations in open-carry states.

"In an open carry state, you're going to have to really watch how people are showing up. Are they aggravated? Are they wearing a T-shirt that says 'Indivisible' on it? It's going to be subjective," Nadine Bloch, an executive training conductor with Beautiful Trouble, stated on the training call. "All people who show up with guns are not going to be our enemies, and everybody who shows up with one is not going to be at an elevated risk for using their weapon."

'Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump's enforcement of immigration law.'

Also during the training call, Stephen Piggott with Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative addressed the potential for the presence of counterprotesters.

"We want to emphasize that recent anti-administration protests have remained peaceful, with only isolated incidents of conflict and minimal counterprotester activity. We looked at data from the two most recent nationwide protest days, May Day and the April 5 Hands Off protests. And we found that 99% of these protests — so 1,029 out of the 1,031 — saw no reports of violence or destruction," Piggott stated.

"Only about 4% of those protests — so about 36 of them — actually involved counterdemonstrations or counterprotests," he continued.

He claimed this year's protests have been "very peaceful" with "really not a whole lot of counterdemonstration activity."

Piggott further noted that "actors of concern," such as the Proud Boys and militia groups, have had decreased "offline activity" compared to last year. However, he noted such actors are "paying a bit more attention to the No Kings protest" following the "events in L.A. over the past week."

"What we are not seeing at all is widespread calls from actors of concern to mobilize in response to this weekend," he added.

Although the No Kings movement condemns violence, their training on managing “instigators” reveals organizers’ concerns about disruptions from their own supporters, not conservative "actors of concern," who, as Piggott noted, are less likely to mobilize.

RELATED: Florida sheriff makes clear to radicals that riots won't go their way: 'We will kill you'

  Riots in Los Angeles on June 8, 2025. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Response

Legacy media outlets have bolstered No Kings' narrative, depicting the Army's 250th anniversary parade as Trump's authoritarian birthday spectacle and sidelining its patriotic ties to military history and Flag Day.

Following destructive anti-immigration enforcement riots in Los Angeles last week, which saw widespread property damage and arrests, No Kings' timing and the media's amplification of the movement's narrative raise fears of similar escalation.

'If any person assaults a federal law enforcement officer, they risk being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'

While the No Kings organizers have repeatedly condemned violence and rioting, others are convinced the gathering, particularly given the large scale of demonstrations, will devolve into lawlessness, raising questions about how Indivisible and its partner organizations plan to prevent such chaos at all of their events.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) is one of the many who believe the demonstrations could result in destruction and violence similar to that which occurred in Los Angeles.

In preparation for the mass gatherings, Abbott announced earlier this week that he would deploy Texas National Guard troops to specific locations in the state to "ensure peace and order."

On Thursday, Abbott deployed over 5,000 Texas National Guard troops and 2,000 state police to prevent potential unrest, following clashes between protesters and law enforcement in Austin and Dallas earlier this week that led to roughly a dozen arrests.

"Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump's enforcement of immigration law," Abbott declared. "Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law."

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told Blaze News, "ICE respects the constitutional right of people to peacefully protest; however, assaulting, resisting, impeding, or harassing ICE officers and special agents or interfering in any way as they are executing their official duty is against the law. If any person assaults a federal law enforcement officer, they risk being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Blaze News senior politics editor Christopher Bedford revealed the broader progressive tactic.

"Everything you're seeing now — from the senator from California lunging through agents at the Secretary of Homeland Security, the rioting in Los Angeles, or the congresswoman assaulting a police officer in New Jersey — all of these things are intentional provocations in the hopes of setting something off and triggering an overreaction because they can't get their own grassroots motivated," Bedford stated.

No Kings, the Indivisible Project, the AFL-CIO, and the ACLU did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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