• Thousands of Arizonans protested President Trump in Phoenix on June 14, criticizing his behavior and policies.
• Protesters expressed concerns about Trump’s actions, including his handling of immigration and threats to social programs.
• Organizers aimed to build community and encourage local activism.

While military tanks prepared to roll down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., as part of President Donald Trump’s parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th Anniversary, a different army was building at the Arizona Capitol.

Thousands of Arizonans flooded the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza and braved triple-degree heat on June 14. They gathered to protest Trump and draw attention to what they called his authoritarian and king-like behavior.

“He wants to be a pretend king, but he’s following all the rules of a dictator! And he’s slowing picking out people he wants us to villainize,” Randy Hamilton, 78, said.

Parents pushing their children in strollers and seniors with walkers chanted against the president and watched drag queens perform as music blasted in the background. They held signs that said things like, “Unpaid protester but I hate Trump for free,” and “No Crown for the Clown.”

At the same time, musicians and live entertainment took the stage in D.C. for the inaugural military parade.

The “No Kings Day of Defiance” in Phoenix was one of more than 2,000 planned events across the United States. The event was meant to poke fun at Trump as he kicked off an expensive parade on his 79th birthday.

Erica Connell, a liaison for the 50501 movement that helped organize the event, said it was meant to build community before the summer heat would make it too difficult.

“We’ll have more policy-driven events in the future, but right now, it’s just so broad that it’s about building the resistance. It’s about making sure that we have the numbers,” Connell said.

Elected officials like Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez spoke to the crowd from onstage, telling attendees “revolution” was the “acceptable response to fascism.”

“It is not for us to take a more moderate approach to policy. It is not to take a moderate approach to politics,” Hernandez yelled to an uproar of applause. “It is revolution, and it is to invest in our communities!”

‘I don’t want to lose our democracy’

Attendees almost uniformly gave the same response when asked what brought them out: opposition to Trump. He’s acting like he’s king, protesters told The Arizona Republic. Congress isn’t standing up against him. The courts aren’t doing enough to rein him in.

Swanson, 88 and from Ahwatukee, attended against the wishes of her adult children, who feared for her safety. Swanson said she felt like she had to go.

“I don’t want to lose our democracy. Something dramatic has to be done,” she said. Swanson’s neighbor, 66-year old Stephanie Drobatschewsky, felt the same. Drobatschewsky said both her parents were Holocaust survivors, and that Trump’s immigration round-ups reminded her of World War II Germany.

Robert Lang, 64, said he hoped the number of protests taking place across the country showed elected leaders that change was wanted.

Attendees repeatedly echoed each other in the changes they wanted to see: for Donald Trump to resign or be impeached; to stop threatening Social Security and Medicare; for more humane treatment of immigrants; to reject attacks against the U.S. Department of Education, PBS and National Public Radio.

Connell, a main planner of the Phoenix protest, said the overarching demand was to “uphold the constitution.”

Up next: resistance at the neighborhood level

Connell said organizers conceived of a carnival-themed event partially to “have fun making fun of (Trump) on his birthday” and also partially to attract families.

“We’ve had very specific goals in mind and growing the movement in our state by hitting those various demographics in what we’re doing,” Connell said.

Organizers planned educational events and wanted attendees to identify causes they cared about, then connect with groups working on those issues. They focused on “inspiring and teaching people how to become activists on their own corner,” Connell said, “because that’s how we’re trying to grow the movement.“

Hernandez, the Phoenix councilwoman known for fiery rhetoric, was added to the speaker list to give more of a rally feel. Her speech amplified the crowd as she spoke about Trump “hunting” the public.

“Let me be clear: He is hunting us,” Hernandez said. “From Palestinian protesters to students to immigrant communities, we are under attack. His ICE minions are in our neighborhoods, our stores, our workplaces and our homes.”

Parents: Protest can be positive and powerful at any age

South of the stage, kids played in bounce houses while grown men dressed in chicken costumes. They held signs saying “TACO,” a nod to the joke about tariffs that, “Trump always chickens out.”

Jules and Audra Nelson stayed near the stage with their three children, who were 10, 8 and 3. The Nelsons brought their two sons and daughter to show them that protest could be a positive and powerful force for change.

The kids had seen the protests in L.A. and Audra said she wanted them to understand “when people come together, it’s really positive.”

She said she wanted her kids to know they weren’t “bound by their age,” and that young people had been “key catalysts of the civil rights movement.”

“Resistance is little pieces at a time. It doesn’t have to be big. It can just be you saying, ‘I’m not OK with this,’” Audra said. “Sometimes we think we’re so small, but we are so big.”

Taylor Seely is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Do you have a story about the government infringing on your First Amendment rights? Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.

Seely’s role is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.