The protests were timed to Flag Day and Trump's 79th birthday as he held a military-style parade to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary in Washington, D.C., featuring tanks, so

More than 1,500 events were announced throughout the U.S. to send a loud message to President Donald Trump: “In America, we don’t do kings.”

For Vinnie Walsh, 82, of Auburn, Mass., it was “the whole nine yards — the loss of decency, courtesy, compassion, democracy.” Laurae Carpenetti, 54, a physician from the Atlanta suburbs, said that Mr. Trump’s appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his top health official was her motivating factor.

Protesters began gathering early on the west steps of the state Capitol in Sacramento as a so-called “No Kings” protest against Trump administration policies, part of a nationwide day of demonstrations meant to coincide with a military parade marking the 250th anniversary of the U.

The Los Angeles Police Department has declared all of downtown as an unlawful assembly, telling all demonstrators to leave the area immediately. "Downtown Los Angeles has been declared as an UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY. You are to leave the Downtown Area immediately," police said on X.

Despite peaceful demonstrations reported in multiple cities, violence flared at some anti-Trump protests over the weekend.

Following President Trump’s deployment of troops to L.A., an appeals court paused a lower court’s ruling that Trump acted illegally, allowing him to keep California National Guard deployed for now. NBC News’ David Noriega reports more.