No Parade for Tyrants: Why No Kings Day Matters More Than Ever in 2025

A protester holds handmade signs rejecting authoritarianism at a No Kings Day rally.
Photo by Barbara Burges

This Isn’t Just a Protest. It’s a Reckoning.

Trump tried to crown himself with a parade. But what he got was off-key singing, viral mockery, and a whole lot of empty space.

While he celebrated himself, millions of people across the country took to the streets to say: No kings. No masters. No parade for tyrants.

I wrote this because what’s happening isn’t theoretical—and it sure as hell isn’t normal.

What the Hell Is No Kings Day—And Why It Hits Different This Year

I grew up just outside of Los Angeles. So when I say the sight of U.S. troops rolling into the city hits close to home, I mean it literally.

In 2020, protestors in L.A. were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. The message was clear: dissent would be punished.

Now, in 2025, thousands of National Guard troops are back, along with around 500 Marines—not to protect the public, but to remind them who's in charge. Riot gear—gas canisters, flashbangs, “non-lethal” weapons—they’re here to display force.

To display force. To scare the shit out of anyone who still believes freedom should actually feel free.

No Kings Day began as a tongue-in-cheek counter-holiday—a rebellion against the July 4th narrative and the myth of liberty baked into colonization. But in 2025, it exposed a raw nerve.

We’re not just rejecting kings—we’re rejecting the gaslit story of America as a “shining city.”

We’re living through something that looks a lot more like decline cloaked in red, white, and blue.

Why Were Troops Sent to L.A. in the First Place?

Let’s be honest: this wasn’t about safety.

Helicopters chased farm workers through strawberry fields. ICE raided Home Depots where day laborers wait for work. Longtime residents—parents, neighbors, veterans—were detained. Families were torn apart.

And while families in L.A. were being torn apart, Trump was busy throwing himself a birthday parade in D.C.—all while turning a majority-Latinx city into a militarized zone.

Los Angeles wasn’t an accidental target. It was a political choice.

This is a city shaped by Hispanic, Latinx, and Indigenous culture. A city that was once part of Mexico. A city where white people are now the minority.

Trump deployed the California National Guard against Governor Gavin Newsom’s wishes—and added hundreds of active-duty Marines for good measure. One of them detained a veteran outside the VA. There was no plan for housing, food, or medical care for these troops. No concern for actual community safety.

This, from the same guy who fired thousands of VA workers and gutted mental health care for veterans.

He sent troops into a majority-Latinx city, turned it into a war zone, and threw himself a party.

Let’s name it: this wasn’t protection. It was a flex. A show of force. An intimidation campaign in combat boots.

What Is No Kings Day?

No Kings Day is a counter-holiday. It’s about rejecting royalism, nationalism, and every red, white, and blue lie that paints over genocide and calls it liberty.

It’s refusal. It’s remembrance. And in 2025, it was resistance on a national scale.

It emerged during Trump’s first term—a way to reclaim space from the myth-making of America’s founding fathers. It’s about what gets erased: stolen land, forced labor, silenced communities.

No Kings Day says: we remember. We refuse. We resist.

Trump’s Parade Flopped. But Authoritarianism Marches On.

Steven Cheung—Trump’s spokesperson—claimed 250,000 people showed up for Trump’s birthday parade.

MeidasTouch responded with a wall of "HAHAHAHA" that went viral.

The truth? Very few people showed. Videos of the event show weak crowds and a barely audible group singing “Happy Birthday” off-key.

Meanwhile, Trump was trying to rebrand a fascist flex as patriotism. Gaslight us into believing it was a success. Pretend we didn’t just see what we all saw.

That’s not just lying. It’s psychological warfare.

Weaponizing Reality: The Mindfuck of Propaganda

Propaganda doesn’t work because it’s convincing. It works because it exhausts you.

You start to question your memory. Your instincts. The footage is right there—empty sidewalks, sparse crowds—but the messaging insists you’re wrong.

It’s not about facts. It’s about confusion. If you’re confused, you’re less likely to fight back.

This isn’t just misinformation. It’s strategic disorientation. And it’s working exactly how it’s meant to—unless we name it.

Police in riot gear patrol the streets during national No Kings Day protests.
Photo by Andrew Valdivia

Millions Said No.

It’s worth noting: No Kings Day had been planned well before the situation in Los Angeles escalated. But the military deployment, the ICE raids, the propaganda? They turned a counter-holiday into a full-blown national reckoning.

L.A. didn’t start this fire—but it sure as hell threw gasoline on it.

While Trump cosplayed power, millions of people hit the streets.

Albany, Oregon—a red city in a red county—saw over 1,500 people protesting peacefully. In cities across the country, the turnout was massive.

From coast to coast, red and blue states, urban centers and rural towns, people showed up to say: No kings. No fascist cosplay. No more gaslighting.

No parade for tyrants.

When History Is Personal

I have family members of color. One of my sisters—and her son, who carried the last name Hernandez—lived in Los Angeles. They’re both gone now. But the violence they endured? It’s still alive.

My nephew was targeted his whole life—for the way he looked, for existing while brown. He struggled with mental health, and the cruelty hit even harder. He lived not far from where those troops are now.

Another nephew is Native American. In the town where he was born, he was called racial slurs. Later, in so-called liberalEugene, Oregon, he was jumped by a group of white guys.

This parade? It marches right over all of that.

Grief. Rage. And the People Who Still Don’t See It.

Here’s the emotional mindfuck:

I have MAGA relatives who don’t see how this harms their own damn family. Who post flags and slogans like they’re cheering for a sports team.

It’s grief. It’s rage. Heartbreak with nowhere safe to land.

Social Media Isn’t the Cause—It’s a Mirror

A friend in her 80s told me she thinks social media is what’s dividing this country. I get where she’s coming from. But Trump would still be Trump with or without Twitter.

Fox News is the #1 news network in the world. And long before TikTok, they were reshaping reality with a smile and a chyron.

If social media spreads disinformation, it also spreads proof. It shows the empty crowds. The ICE raids. The protests.

It lets us see each other—in real time. And that? That’s power.

Senator Padilla Detained: When Democracy Gets Tackled

Two days ago, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla—one of California’s two democratically elected senators—was violently detained at a press conference in Los Angeles.

Despite being escorted into the room by National Guard and FBI agents, Padilla was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and accused of “lunging” at DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

This, despite clear video evidence showing him calmly identifying himself:

“I’m Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary. Because the fact of the matter is…” (X/Twitter)

Footage from multiple angles contradicts DHS claims that Padilla failed to introduce himself or acted aggressively. The video shows him standing still, speaking into a microphone, and being immediately intercepted by federal officers.

Noem played dumb—and right-wing media jumped in fast.

Fox News called it a “temper tantrum” and claimed Padilla had “stormed the stage”—even though their own footage showed otherwise (Fox News).

House Speaker Mike Johnson backed Noem’s version of events and called for Padilla to be censured. In a Forbesinterview posted to YouTube, Johnson said:

“There needs to be a message sent … that is not how we’re going to act.” (Forbes YouTube)

He added that “a sitting member of Congress should not act like that” and accused Democrats of “acting like lawbreakers.”

This Wasn’t a Mistake—It Was a Message

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t a misunderstanding. This was a message.

It told voters: Your vote doesn’t count if you don’t vote the “right” way.
It told elected officials: Even you’re not safe if you oppose this regime.
It told all of us: This government isn’t hiding its authoritarian leanings anymore.

Padilla himself later warned in an interview with Axios:

“If this is how they respond to a U.S. Senator calmly asking a question, imagine what they’re doing to farm workers, to undocumented people, to protestors across California.” (Axios)

Noem’s “Liberation” Language Is a Federal Threat

At the press conference, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stood at the podium and declared that the troops were in Los Angeles to:

“Liberate the city from the socialists and burdensome leadership.” (MSNBC)

Let’s not gloss over that word: liberate.

That’s not just campaign noise. It’s a threat of federal takeover.

It implies California’s elected leaders are illegitimate. That the people of L.A.—immigrants, people of color, essential workers—need to be rescued from their own democracy.

It suggests the military is now a tool for domestic regime change.

Noem didn’t stop there. She called Los Angeles “a city of criminals” and warned: “We are not going away.” (The Hill)

Propaganda in Real Time

Later, on The National Desk, Noem claimed Senator Padilla “lunged” at her. The anchor called it an “outburst” that required removal (The National Desk).

Then Dan Bongino, on Reuters, insisted Padilla wasn’t wearing a pin and “physically resisted law enforcement”(Reuters).

Padilla was escorted in by law enforcement—into a building where he works. Everyone in the room knew who he was.

This is how propaganda works: when the truth doesn’t serve the story, it’s edited out.

And this administration? It’s acting like it can do anything to anyone—with no justification—in the name of “national security.”

We’d be fools to think they haven’t seriously considered making state and local officials irrelevant—especially in places they see as enemy territory.

This is how authoritarianism talks.
And increasingly, it’s how it moves.

If your body clocked that before your brain did? That’s not overreacting.
That’s your nervous system doing its job.

Hypervigilance Is a Survival Response

This isn’t just about politics. It’s about trauma.

If you grew up walking on eggshells, trying not to upset anyone, taught to make yourself small or “reasonable,” you already know this feeling.

This moment? It’s not new. It’s familiar.

The confusion. The disorientation. The knowledge that even if you follow the rules, you’re still not safe.

This is why therapy isn’t just self-care—it’s survival work.
It’s how we reclaim our nervous systems and stop letting them be manipulated by people who benefit from our silence.

If you’ve been doomscrolling, crying for no reason, or unable to sleep this weekend:

You’re not broken. You’re not too sensitive. You’re just awake.

This is what hypervigilance looks like.

For those with CPTSD, racial trauma, or any history of living under threat—this isn’t just political spectacle. It’s a trauma trigger.

You’re not alone.
You’re not weak.
You’re right on time.

What Resistance Looks Like in a Red County

Yesterday, I stood in Albany, Oregon—a red city in a red county—surrounded by over 1,500 people chanting, singing, screaming “yayyy” to every honk of support.

It was peaceful. Loud. Defiant. Joyful. Grieving. Alive.

Don’t let anyone tell you these protests don’t matter.
Don’t let anyone convince you your sensitivity is a weakness.

Being awake in a world that wants you numb?
That’s fucking brave.

No Parade for Tyrants

Naming the truth is resistance.
Feeling—when everything pushes you to shut down—is resistance.

Therapy. Community. Movement work. Rest.
All of it counts.

Not today. Not tomorrow.
Not on No Kings Day.

And if you’re scared?
You’re not alone. You’re not numb. You’re exactly what this moment needs.

This isn’t a moment.
It’s a movement.

Disclaimer: This blog isn’t therapy. If you’re struggling, please connect with a licensed mental health professional.