On ‘No Kings Day’ thousands of Tucsonans in Downtown, along Speedway

In Downtown Tucson, thousands of Tucsonans turned out for the second “No Kings Day” of the year, part of a nationwide protest against the Trump administration and one of more than a dozen events across Southern Arizona on Saturday.

Hundreds of people marched into  El Presidio Plaza and listened to several speakers, including Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and newly-minted U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election in September to replace her father, Raúl Grijalva, who died in March.

As Grijalva stood on a concrete riser, part of a memorial fountain, the crowd chanted “Swear her in!” While Grijalva was elected in a landslide weeks ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson has actively avoided seating her, blowing through deadlines and repeatedly sending House members home during the federal shutdown.

Several people wore blow-up animal costumes, a nod to the protestors in Portland, Ore., and Chicago who have worn costumes—including one famous frog—to protest increasingly aggressive immigration raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

At the corner of East Speedway and North Country Club Road, thousands more lined the streets and held signs, while drivers honked in support, or held signs as they rolled past.

Along with the events in Tucson, there were  events in Vail, Sahuarita, Green Valley, Tubac, Arivaca, Patagonia, Nogales and Douglas.

Earlier this year, thousands braved a sweltering summer day for the first “No Kings” protest, held while Trump celebrated his birthday with a military parade.

Johnson and other Republicans have tried to brand the protest as a “hate America rally,” and linked the events to the ongoing shutdown.

“Speaker Johnson is running out of excuses for keeping the government shut down. Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, he’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings,” said the No Kings Coalition in a statement.