About 60,000 people took to the streets of downtown San Diego on Saturday for what organizers are calling “No Kings” Day, a nationwide protest of President Donald Trump’s policies coinciding with a military parade in the nation’s capital.

Two major rallies for No Kings Day kicked off around 10:15 a.m. in downtown, one at Civic Center Plaza, the other at Waterfront Park. Thousands of people began marching south on Harbor Drive from the County Administration building. In total, there are 11 rallies planned throughout the county.

The two rallies drew more than 60,000 participants, San Diego Police estimates.

“We organized this because San Diegans from all walks of life are so concerned about the cruelty and the corruption and the authoritarianism of the Trump regime,” said Wendy Gelernter, an organizer with Take Action SD. “We want to preserve our democracy, and we want to preserve our rights. We want to stop having people kidnapped off the streets. We want to stop having parents torn away from their children, and we want to have rights for everybody in the country. That’s why thousands and thousands of people are here today.”

Spring Valley resident Karina Avila was at Waterfront Park with friends. They came to the protest to make their voices heard, she said.

“I think speaking up does make a difference. You know, some people don’t believe it, but I do,” Avila said. “I’m here for my family who can’t speak up. I’m here for myself. I want to make a difference, and I do believe things like this do.”

For husband and wife Raymond Rubi and Kathia Cortez, Saturday’s No Kings Day march was the first protest they’ve been to. Rubi is an army veteran. He said the Trump administration makes him feel like his service was wasted.

“As somebody who has served, I feel like the current standards, the current things that the government stands for is not correct,” Rubi said. “I feel like a lot of us, people who served with me, feel like our time in service was wasted, and we’re just trying to show to everybody else we’re — for the people, not for the government.”

Metropolitan Transit (MTS) Trolley lines were experiencing sporadic delays due to heavy ridership, according to MTS.

Organizers encouraged protesters to carry signs and make their voices heard, but not to engage in violent confrontation with supporters of the president and law enforcement.

“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action,” a statement from No Kings organizers read. “We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.”

The march was peaceful, according to SDPD Lt. Travis Easter and there were no arrests. He said the department had “a lot of resources” available to assist, but did not provide specifics.

SDPD enforced rolling road closures as the march progressed, Easter said. All road closures have been lifted, according to SDPD.

Beyond the two large rallies and marches in Downtown San Diego, other events were planned throughout the county:

• Carlsbad, 10 a.m., Carlsbad Boulevard and Pine Avenue;
• Del Mar, 10 a.m., Intersection of Del Mar Heights and Carmel Country roads;
• Chula Vista, 10 a.m., Birch Road and Millenia Avenue;
• Escondido, 10 a.m., Grape Day Park, 321 N Broadway;
• El Cajon, 10 a.m., Magnolia Avenue and Fletcher Parkway;
• Mira Mesa, 11 a.m., 10782 Westview Parkway;
• Rancho Bernardo, 11 a.m., Bernardo Center Drive and Rancho Bernardo Road;
• A kid-friendly rally at 11:15 a.m. at Civita Park in San Diego, 7897 Altana Way;
• Ramona, 3:30 p.m., 1000 Main St.; and
• San Marcos, 4:15 p.m., corner of Grand and West San Marcos Boulevard.

Why are people protesting across the country?

Saturday marks Trump’s 79th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the United States Army. The two events are culminating in the “Grand Military Parade” in Washington, D.C., featuring more than 6,700 soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles parading through the city.

Opponents of the parade — the nation’s first since 1991’s National Victory Celebration, which was timed to welcome returning veterans of the 100- day Persian Gulf War — say it is a vanity project of a nascent dictator.

“This administration is sending National Guard troops and active duty military against American citizens protesting this administration’s illegal and unconstitutional actions,” said Richard Cannon, an organizer with 50501 Escondido. “This is exactly the type of tyrannical behavior that our founding fathers feared, one that many thought “could never happen in this country.””

The military parade — which is subject to cancellation due to possible thunderstorms Saturday — will feature 28 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armored vehicles, four Paladin howitzers, towed artillery and multiple infantry squad vehicles. Army officials estimate the parade will cost taxpayers between $25 million and $45 million. Metal plates will be laid down on the street to prevent damage from the 68-ton machines, an army statement reads.

“For two and a half centuries, the men and women of America’s army have dominated our enemies and protected our freedom at home,” Trump said. “This parade salutes our soldiers’ remarkable strength and unbeatable spirit. You won’t want to miss it. Thundering tanks and breathtaking flyovers will roar through our capital city.”

“This is the kind of vanity parade we would expect to see in Russia or North Korea, not in a democracy,” said Allison Gill, podcaster of the Mueller She Wrote podcast, who will speak at the San Diego rallies.

The timing of the parade seems auspicious, as the Trump administration has recently ramped up Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions throughout the country, but notably in San Diego and Los Angeles, leading to ongoing civil unrest.

“I am protesting because I am scared about what’s happening in our country,” said Michele Cyr, organizer of the Carlsbad protest. “It’s not a democracy anymore when workers are afraid to go to work, have no job to go to anymore and our civil liberties are under attack.”

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Father Joe’s Villages and six students from UC San Diego are teaming up to help those who are living on our streets get better connected to resources.

“I’d actually volunteered for Father Joe’s villages in the past,” Tessa Chan, one of the students, said.”So, when I saw the name, I got pretty excited and wanted to work with them further.”

Chan, a junior at UC San Diego, isn’t volunteering at Father Joe’s Villages, but rather working with the non-profit through the university’s Innovating for X program (i4X).

“So, what we’re aiming to fix is communication breakdown between people who are unsheltered on the streets and their outreach workers or their street health staff that provide medical care,” Josh Bohannan, Chief Strategy Officer for Father Joe’s Villages, said.

Bohannan told ABC 10News the non-profit teamed with UC San Diego to work with students to create an online portal to help with better and continued connection to case workers, medical needs, and other resources.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is people have cell phones, but they lose their number because their phone breaks, it’s stolen, it might be taken in an encampment sweep,” Bohannan said. “So, that connection and that relationship that they’ve built with their provider, there’s a breakdown,” said.

The portal allows for continued communication for anyone looking for services with Father Joe’s.

“Each person will have their own unique code, and sign up with the outreach worker, and so each will have their own unique ID where they can log in from any device that has access to the internet,” Bohannan said. “What this platform has is not just texting and communication with your outreach workers, but it also would allow for a GPS drop.”

Bohannan said that can be anywhere from the library to a new phone or someone else’s. He told ABC 10News the portal is in the beta stages and the kinks will be worked out by the UC San Diego team over the summer.

So, they hope to have the portal online soon and help those in need.
“So I think that having a consolidated resource would really kind of serve to benefit a lot of people,” Chan said.

PHOENIX — The Dodgers seemed to marvel a little bit at how Mike Shildt managed Wednesday’s game.

“Bringing in a guy to get a big out with Shohei,” Dodgers left fielder Michael Conforto said. “Yeah, it can feel a little bit more like playoffs.”

He referred to Shildt replacing starting pitcher Randy Vásquez with left-hander Adrián Morejón to face Dodgers lead-off hitter Shohei Ohtani in the fifth inning.

“The way you saw Mike manage, with some urgency and the moves,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “I wouldn’t say playoff game, but it was intense.”

Yes, Vásquez had thrown just 70 pitches and allowed one run. And it is not even the middle of June.

Yet Shildt had a relatively rested back end of his bullpen and an off day coming up. Ohtani, one of the two best hitters on earth, was coming up a third time in a tie game. Vásquez has allowed a .217 average and .677 OPS the first two times through the batting order and a .361 average and .961 OPS the third time through.

So Shildt decided to do what he has done fairly often and usually so adeptly this season. He chased a victory by attempting to make the pieces of a pitching puzzle fit.

It didn’t work out. And it was the latest sign that something needs to change for the Padres.

Relievers are not computer programs. They are human.

Morejón made every pitch he needed to but muffed a grounder. Jeremiah Estrada allowed his first home run in a month.

So Wednesday’s failure probably does not entirely correlate to both Morejón and Estrada pitching for the fourth time in six days, twice in a tie game and twice protecting a one-run lead. It can’t be entirely blamed on Estrada having pitched in the second-most games in the majors this season or that Morejón is one of the Padres’ MLB-leading six relief pitchers to have made at least 29 appearances this season.

But Monday was the 12th time in the past 24 games the Padres’ bullpen has lost a lead or let an opponent untie a game. That is after the team’s relievers began the season protecting the first 22 leads with which they were entrusted.

When considering what has happened — and worrying about what might happen — a remarkable convergence of events cannot be dismissed.

While playing 22 of the 23 days leading up to Thursday’s off-day, the bullpen posted a 2.69 ERA (eighth best in MLB) while working 83⅔ innings (seventh).

That workload alone is not the story.

Padres relievers made 82 appearances in that span. An astonishing  71 times, a reliever entered a game with the game tied or the Padres leading or trailing by no more than two runs.

Friday is the start of a run of 13 games in a row and 29 games in the next 31 days.

The Padres have played 37 games that have been decided by no more than two runs, fourth most in MLB. Of those, 16 have come in the past 20 games. Before beating the Dodgers 11-1 on Tuesday and losing 5-2 on Wednesday, the Padres had played nine games in a row at the start of June decided by one or two runs.

The bullpen cannot continue being pushed like this.

It was just in 2021 that something similar unfolded, and a bullpen that had to pick up for a starting rotation decimated by injuries eventually sputtered. The Padres imploded in multiple areas that season, falling from 17 games over .500 in early August to a 79-83 finish. But the chief reason was the attrition in the rotation and ensuing workload that led to the bullpen with MLB’s best ERA (2.84) on July 6 to have its seventh-worst ERA (4.50) the rest of the way.

Several people in the organization have privately acknowledged the emerging crisis with the pitching staff, though no one will say it for publication.

However, Shildt did say something this week that was significant, in that he almost never says anything like it.

The manager rarely comes close to calling out his players. He frequently denies commenting even on obvious events if doing so could be construed as a disparaging comment. But after Nick Pivetta threw 93 pitches in four innings Monday, Shildt said it like it was.

“A lot of guys are carrying the mail,” he said of the bullpen. “We’re pushing, piecing it together and competing at the same time. But, you know, we’re going to need some depth out of some starters.”

This was not a swipe at Pivetta. In fact, Pivetta has been the Padres’ most effective and most durable starter.

The rotation as a whole, however, has gone through stretches in which it is burdening the bullpen far too much.

In the season’s first 13 games, the Padres got six or more innings from a starting pitcher just three times and fewer than five innings five times.

And in the past 15 games, starters have gone six innings just three times and fewer than five innings six times.

That is not the only thing threatening to crush the bullpen. The Padres’ offense — with or without the additional bat it desperately needs — can help out a little more.

The Padres have scored more than three runs in just nine of their past 25 games.

The reality is the Padres need the offense to more consistently do its share of the work. They probably also need to add a starter and/or a higher-leverage reliever.

Or Shildt is going to have to start letting Vásquez pitch on in situations like Wednesday. He will have to push young starters Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek. He will have to test the limits of what some of his relievers can do.

And those sorts of compromises usually do not end well.

The Padres have done some remarkable maneuvering to win as many games as they have.

One of their three top starting pitchers — Yu Darvish — has yet to make his season debut while he works back from an elbow injury. Another, Michael King, has been out the past three weeks with a shoulder malady. The other, Dylan Cease, has made every start, but the majority of them have not been altogether good.

Their best starter this season, Pivetta, is better than he has ever been — which is either great or concerning. The three young pitchers they are now running out every five days have been better than could have been expected, which is either great or concerning.

The Padres are nine games over .500 and in playoff position.

But with 95 games remaining, their season hinges on a disconcerting number of maybes.

Maybe Cease has found that rhythm he needs and is going to maintain it most of his remaining 18 or 19 starts.

Maybe Pivetta can keep turning in quality starts more often than not.

Maybe Kolek and Bergert will continue to keep even the low-scoring Padres in games as they navigate their first seasons as major league starting pitchers.

Maybe Vásquez can keep stranding the legion of runners that reach base against him in many of his starts.

Maybe the Padres bullpen can withstand the stress of working multiple higher-leverage innings and Shildt and pitching coach Ruben Niebla can continue to pull almost every correct lever almost every game for the next 3½ months.

Maybe Darvish will return before the All-Star break and King shortly after, and maybe both will remain healthy and pitch brilliantly.

Maybe Matt Waldron comes up and trusts his knuckleball. Maybe reliever Bryan Hoeing comes off his rehab assignment and picks up where he left off before his shoulder injury.

Maybe 34-year-old catcher Elias Diaz and 38-year-old catcher Martin Maldonado will remain healthy and able to catch upwards of three games a week and continue to serve as the pitching staff’s sherpas all through the summer and into the fall.

Maybe all or most of those things will happen.

Because if not, the Padres are almost certainly in trouble.

That the team’s left fielders are batting .201 with a .541 OPS, third worst among any of the 30 teams’ left field groups, is a problem. The Padres have been shopping for help there for more than a month.

That the Padres’ lead-off batter is hitting .188 since May 3 and the No. 2 batter is hitting .216 since May 23 and the No.4 batter is hitting .210 since May 13 is a collective albatross for the offense.

But the gray clouds darkening the skies ahead have accumulated not because of what the Padres are doing or not doing on offense.

It is on this mountain of maybes that the Padres could wash out.

“We’ve done the best we can to put the guys in the right spots,” Shildt said. “And for the most part, we’ve been rewarded for that. … We’re getting contributions from everybody who is giving us what they have. That’s all you can ask.”

Actually, they’re going to have to get more.