Thousands Flood Downtown Riverside Streets As Part Of Nationwide ‘No Kings’ Protests

A protest that was supposed to last two hours went late into the night as more than a thousand Inland Empire residents flocked to downtown Riverside Saturday to protest against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies as part of the nationwide “No Kings” movement.

Maria Castillo, an attendee, said she showed up to protest against the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. She added that her husband was deported in 2018 during Trump’s first term.

“He had to pass away without me, without the family,” she said. “So that’s why I’m here, no more family separations.”

Another protester, Aledaida Andrade, traveled from Temecula to downtown Riverside after seeing a flyer for the protest on social media. She’s from an immigrant family, she said, and felt that it was important to protest after seeing the recent immigration sweeps across California.

“I feel like there’s always this sense of distress, not knowing what’s to come,” Andrade said. “This could either be the worst we see or just the start of everything.”

The demonstration took place alongside the thousands of other “No Kings” protests held across the country. Large cities in California, like Los Angeles and San Francisco, saw thousands of residents take to the streets for hours. At least 10 “No Kings” protests were scheduled across Riverside County as well, including in Palm Springs, Corona and Temecula.

The protests also coincided with Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, which also happened to fall on the president’s 79th birthday. More than 6,000 soldiers marched through the capital streets while hundreds of military vehicles were showcased to the thousands of spectators. 

Mark Brown, one of the protesters marching through the streets, expressed his frustrations with the parade. His son is a U.S. Army veteran and his father fought in World War II, he said.

“If he saw what was happening to our country today, he’d probably be rolling over in his grave,” Brown said.

It’s also the second protest to take place in downtown Riverside in two days, targeting the Trump administration. Around 300 protesters marched through downtown Riverside for hours in response to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids Friday afternoon. 

Saturday’s rally started at 5:30 p.m., with protesters gathering at the intersection of Market Street and University Avenue. The large crowd then filed onto Market Street and walked toward Ninth Avenue marching counterclockwise through a few city blocks once until reaching back to their starting point.

The demonstrators then walked toward the Riverside County Superior Court. There, the Inland Empire chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation stood at the steps of the courthouse with a sign that said, “An immigrant’s fight is everyone’s fight,” in Spanish. Three drummers banged their instruments as demonstrators shouted a series of chants in support of immigrant communities and admonishing Trump.

Among the crowd was U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside), who has repeatedly critiqued the Trump administration. During an April town hall, he said that the nation was in the midst of a constitutional crisis, likening it to early-stage cancer.

“The people rising up is like a vaccine,” Takano told The Record. “The people, rising up, becoming aware, safeguarding their rights, that is an immune system responding to the dictatorial cancer, the abomination, that Donald Trump is to our country.”

Saturday’s protest was organized by Indivisible Riverside, a local chapter of the larger Indivisible organization, which includes the nonprofit Indivisible Project and the hybrid political action committee Indivisible Action. The organization’s website states that the Indivisible movement is a “progressive grassroots movement” with millions of members throughout the U.S.

Kris Lovekin, a board member with Indivisible Riverside, said via email that the demonstration was a call for due process and protection of free speech, adding that the organization was in communication with the Riverside Police Department ahead of the event.

Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez, on Thursday, also released a statement on social media that said his department would fully respect its residents’ right to protest peacefully.

“But crossing the line into violence, vandalism, or criminal activity is something we will not tolerate,” his statement said. “We are committed to serving everyone in Riverside and working with the community to keep our city safe.”

The protest remained peaceful throughout the evening.

After demonstrators left the Riverside County Superior Court at around 6:30 p.m., both officers from the Riverside Police and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department formed a line across Tenth Street. 

The protesters would pass by the formation several times throughout the night. Some yelled profanity at the officers, but it was quickly stamped out by demonstrators chanting the phrase “peaceful protest” repeatedly. Some participants instead chose to dance to regional Mexican music in front of the police line.

Nearing the end of the protest, a Black SUV on University Avenue drove erratically toward the protesters after a scuffle, striking at least one individual. Paramedics quickly tended to the injured person, though their condition following the incident was not immediately known, and police posted a traffic advisory on social media.

By 10 p.m., the number of people demonstrating had dwindled and the line of law enforcement near the courthouse disbanded.