“On Flag Day, 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.””

Official No Kings Website

NEDERLAND - “When they come for Social Security and Medicaid, who are they messing with? They’re messing with old hippies,” said one of the many protesters who gathered at the Peace Sculpture Garden, off of Highway 119 in Nederland, on Saturday, June 14, 2025. 

Local activists and organizers, including the Mountain Forum for Peace (MFP), joined the nationwide “No Kings” protest, a mass demonstration organized by a coalition of civil rights groups, including the 50501 movement, to take place on the same day as President Donald J. Trump’s Grand Military Parade and Celebration. 

“On Flag Day, 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,” the official No Kings website reads. “But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else.

“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.”

The same group of up to 200 partners, including ACLU, Greenpeace, Indivisible, Move On, Planned Parenthood, Rise and Resist, Third Act, and Veterans For Peace, organized the Hands Off! protest, another nationwide demonstration back in April that saw over 3 million protesters gather in over 1,400 locations across 50 states. 

The crowd that gathered in Nederland then to join the Hands Off! protest surrounded the beautiful sculpture at the intersection of East 3rd Street and Highway 119, but only took up one small corner on one side of the street.

But on Saturday, for the No Kings protest, the number of protesters brandishing their signs and waving flags had exponentially increased, with people of all ages taking over two sides of the highway, as well as the traffic circle, garnering honks of support from the heavy weekend traffic, which had also increased from back in April. 

Nationally, it is being reported that No Kings protests were held in over 2,100 locations across the country and were attended by a total of 4 to 6 million people, equating to almost 2% of the national population.

However, news sources are also stating that the heavily crowdsourced data used to account for protest attendance can be skewed and therefore those results should not be considered official estimates, as local reports may be undercounting, or in some cases inflating, attendance, since other protests and Pride events were also held on Saturday. 

Protesters in Nederland stayed on topic, voicing their opposition to President Trump’s military parade with signs that read “Fund Medicaid, Not Parades,” and “A Monarchy Is An Insult To Monarch Butterflies.”

Trump’s Grand Military Parade and Celebration had also been described as celebrating the 250th Birthday of the U.S. Army. Also, June 14, America’s Flag Day, commemorates the official adoption of the country’s flag in 1977. Trump’s 79th birthday was also on June 14.

“Tonight, we affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead, and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American Soldier will be there,” Trump said in his speech on Saturday. 

“No matter the risks, no matter the obstacles, our warriors will charge into battle, they will plunge into the crucible of fire, and they will seize the crown of victory because the United States of America will always have the grace of Almighty God and the iron will of the United States Army.”

Though the parade has been marketed by the Trump Administration as a celebration of the military and its victories, it has garnered scrutiny for its high price tag, as it is reported to have cost somewhere between $25 million to $45 million. It has also been criticized for copying similar authoritarian displays by Russia, China, and North Korea.

Many countries celebrate military victories of significance, and honor their militaries during independence celebrations, though the United States has traditionally only held military parades as post-conflict celebrations, as they did after the Civil War, and World War I, and after the Gulf War in 1991.

In addition to a rainy day full of wreath-laying ceremonies, fitness competitions, awards presentations, and fireworks, Washington DC’s National Mall saw up to 6,500 soldiers marching and 150 vehicles, eight of them tanks—two of which were World War II-era Shermans—rolling down the streets. 

In the air, two World War II-era P-51 aircraft soared, accompanied by 24 military helicopters, while skydivers engaged in formations as they parachuted down to safety.

The White House is reporting that the parade was attended by more than 250,000 people, though that number is still being disputed, given TV shots of half-filled bleachers.  

Amid the Los Angeles protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, which the administration has characterized as “violent riots,” the California National Guard has been deployed against the wishes of California’s governor. The Trump Administration has also deployed the U.S. Marines against citizens, a blatantly unconstitutional move.

President Trump also publicly warned citizens regarding the military parade: “If there's any protesters that want to come out, they're going to be met with very big force,” the President said. 

Despite these warnings, local reports show that the majority of No Kings protests around the country were large, yet peaceful demonstrations. There were rare outlying incidents of violence, including an attack on an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, which resulted in the injury of four police officers.

A No Kings protester in Salt Lake City suspected an imminent threat to himself and other protesters and fired off his handgun, wounding his intended target and killing an innocent bystander. And in Culpeper, Virginia, a 21-year-old suspect drove his vehicle into a crowd of No Kings protesters.

36 people were arrested after the No Kings protest in Denver; the separate group of protesters, ranging in ages from just under 18 to over 50 years old, were gathered near West Colfax Avenue and Speer Boulevard after 9 p.m., and were met with retaliation from officers in the form of pepper rounds and smoke canisters after the crowd began to throw objects at the police.  

As the protest in Nederland petered out, many stated they were driving elsewhere to join other protests, including some to Longmont, which saw over 1,100 protesters.

One mother was on the phone with her kids, warning them not to join their local protest because she heard that the Proud Boys were out in force in their town, proclaiming that the problem with small towns was that “they’re so full of unique individuals, but the problem with individuals is you’re always gonna have some rotten ones.”

The same man who spoke of the “old hippies” coming out to rally against the Trump Administration, spoke about the traumatic experiences he witnessed during the 1999 Seattle protest of the World Trade Organization (WTO). 

Protesters successfully blocked intersections and shut down the WTO’s opening ceremonies for their scheduled event, even trapping Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in her hotel. Though the majority of the 50,000 protesters were peaceful, outliers committed acts of vandalism, smashing windows and lighting fires, to the point where the police responded with tear gas, pepper spray, and mass arrests.

But back in Nederland, in 2025, those opposed to the protest seemingly stayed away from the Peace Sculpture Garden, and a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped through only once, ensured that protesters were staying within the lines on the side of the highway, gave a thumbs up, and drove off. 

Witnessing that interaction caused one Nederland protester to admit out loud, “we’re lucky to be here.”