Thousands of Utahns gather across state to protest Trump administration

SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of Utahns gathered Saturday at the University of Utah campus to protest against the Trump administration.

“This is your home. Do not be driven from it. We can make America what America must become,” said Sarah Buck, who is with the organization Salt Lake Indivisible, which helped organize Saturday’s “No Kings” protest outside the J. Willard Marriott Library.

“Right now, many of our actions seem to be falling on deaf ears, but we must persist. We have to wear them down,” she said, adding that everyone needs to continue showing up at events to show the will of the people. “Join us in standing up for our democracy.”

From chants about democracy to immigration, organizers estimated more than 4,000 people held up signs, cheered the various speakers and waved American flags. That estimate was around 11 a.m., but people continued to show up to the protest in droves, filling the library plaza and surrounding grassy areas.

Talks of tyranny, defying courts, the power of the people and more proliferated through the speeches that were given. The protest included musical numbers “You’ll Be Back” from Broadway’s “Hamilton” and “Do You Hear The People Sing” from “Les Misérables.”

“Our democracy is not yet dead, but it is barely breathing,” University of Utah law professor Teneille Brown said. The “Democratic Party has lost its compass and the Republican Party has lost its soul.”

Saturday marks Flag Day, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Several celebratory events are planned throughout the day on Saturday in Washington.

The events, honoring “the greatest fighting force in history,” will be an “unforgettable celebration” with a military parade “like no other,” Trump said on Truth Social last week.

“I think it’s going to be bigger and better than any parade we’ve ever have had in this country,” the president said.

The parade, set to start at 6:30 p.m., was not part of the original plans for the June 14 celebrations and was added this year, stoking criticism from Democratic lawmakers and others who claim Trump has hijacked the event. The celebrations will cost the Army between $25 million and $45 million, several million dollars more than it would have without a parade, an official told Reuters.

The No Kings organization is hosting dozens of protests across the country on Saturday, calling it a “nationwide day of defiance.”

“President Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington,” the No Kings website states. “On June 14, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t — to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”

Brown encourages everyone to get involved and remember to vote this November.

“The politicians are not our bosses. We are theirs. Oust those who kiss his ring because Trump is not a king,” she said.

Callie and Melina Sweeten are daughters of an immigrant from Denmark. Their mother was undocumented for several years and had to fight to get U.S. citizenship, which took an additional six years after marrying the girls’ dad, who is a U.S. citizen.

“After seeing what’s happening, how they’re essentially racially profiling … people like our mother from Denmark didn’t have to face the same sort of prejudice that they are — it’s really upsetting,” Callie Sweeten said. “We’re just fighting for American ideals and freedom for all.”

The Sweetens said they were so happy seeing all of the American flags at the protest on Flag Day.

“I’m glad we’re all out here waving the American flag, showing that this is an attack against America as a whole, no matter if you are right or left, Democrat or Republican, it’s un-American what is happening,” Callie Sweeten said.

Attendees at the rally ranged from babies to a 104-year-old — Ann McDonald was at the protest with her daughter and son-in-law, sitting in a wheelchair with an umbrella.

McDonald was 17 years old when she saw Benito Mussolini at a rally in Austria in 1937. Shortly after, she made her way to the U.S. from her home country of England. According to her daughter, McDonald has been saying for a while now that “something doesn’t feel right,” and she wanted to be counted among those who showed up.

“It’s the least I could do. It’s all I could do,” McDonald said. “I hope it does some good, because it’s all I can think of to do, and we need to change things badly.”

In Utah alone, protests are being held throughout Saturday in Bluff, Moab, Boulder, Kanab, Cedar City, St. George, Ephraim, Price, Provo, Heber City, Park City, Ogden and Logan. A second protest is planned in Salt Lake at Pioneer Park at 6 p.m.

“What’s going on in our country is absolutely unprecedented in terms of our rights,” Vietnam veteran Marv Hamilton. “I am really, really angry. We’re not going away.”

Hamilton was at the U. protest on Saturday and said he is going to attend the one at Pioneer Park as well. He has been attending rallies for years and said peaceful protests are a strategy in which everyone should participate.

“The flag means a lot to me. Some of my family has died for what this flag means. I have been shot at for what this flag means,” he said, adding that it’s been hard to see what’s going on with veterans.

Hamilton held up an American flag that was hoisted upside down to signal distress. As a country built by immigrants, it’s heartbreaking to see people living in fear, he said.

“Our country is in distress, our whole world is in distress. It means that things aren’t right — things couldn’t be more wrong than they are right now,” he said. “To politicize the military, to use our men and women in uniform as political pawns, is just as wrong as it could possibly be.”

At 11:45 a.m., the organizers thanked everyone for showing up, and the crowds dispersed.

Saturday’s protests are just a few of dozens across America from the last few weeks, which have mainly emphasized immigration issues amid large numbers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. While most protests have remained largely peaceful, some violence has broken out and arrests have been made — leading to Trump’s controversial decision to deploy the National Guard and Marines.