If you’ve come online this past month, you’ve probably seen an image of a golden crown with a red x. There’s no kingSaturday’s “coalition behind citizen action and mass mobilization” responds to an increase in authoritarian excess and corruption in the Trump administration, as its website states. The derivatives of Individuala nonprofit co-founded by political activist Leah Greenberg and lawyer Ezra Levin.the king did not bring together many progressive groups (including Planned Parenthood, Moveon, ACLU) and some conservative allies.
On the eve of the June 14th mobilization, some estimates say that up to five million marchers could be created.reasonNancy Rommelmann spoke with Hunter Dunn, National Press Coordinator of 50501 (“50 Protests. 50 State 1 Movement”). Los Angeles-based Dan discussed how recent federal law enforcement invasions into the city formed the march, why his group works without police involvement, and the satisfaction of seeing the bromance between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s shard.
Q: Something a little unexpected happened last week in Los Angeles.
A: You’ll be very right about that.
Q: How did the presence of federal law enforcement on the ground change the king’s march?
A: Obviously, it had a huge impact. We’re organising in downtown Los Angeles, so we were on the ground during those protests and ice actions. We have a peacekeeping force trained team specializing in escalation and protecting people. [medics were] Managing the aid and while doing it, you got hits from shots directly from rubber bullets.
Q: Kings and 50501 are not affiliated with more than 100 organizations. There is advertising everywhere. Is it all grassroots or do you have a deep pocket donor?
A: If I had the money, I’d never seen it! I’m a volunteer. And I can’t talk about all the organizations that are part of it, but I can talk for us. We are completely grassroots and decentralized. We are not even an organization. We are exercise. And we are working with other local communities and people from all over the country to make this happen.
Q: There are no Kings events in all 50 states. How many individual marches do you expect?
A: It’s somewhere between 1,800 and 2,000, but the numbers include protests in Europe, Canada, Mexico and other countries. It’s international action as people all over the world see what’s going on in America. They want to protest solidarity. They want to help prevent our constitutional rights from being trampled on anymore.
Q: I cried out laughing from them holding events in the UK. There, in fact there is a king.
A: I heard in Canada that it’s called a tyrant. But yeah, in some of the places where they have kings, the king has far less power than our local kings. Their kings are rather ritual, and their rule of law is now better protected than ours.
Q: The No Kings website emphasizes that the event is completely non-violent. The National Guard, mobilized here in LA, will increase the presence of the LAPD and potentially Marines, axiomatically changing the expected dynamics of the day. How did you have to pivot?
A: Last week we highlighted the importance of safety and worked with local community leaders to ensure that our part remains non-violent and peaceful. The same cannot be said about the other side. Local and federal law enforcement in particular in Los Angeles responded violently to non-violent protesters. But I can promise that the movements I have and the local organizers I work with are dedicated to advocating for causes of non-violence. Not only because it is moral, but because it is more effective. Historically, non-violent resistance by citizens is far more effective than armed resistance after World War II, a modern nation. So it’s not just a moral question, it’s a practical question.
But I can’t say the same about the government either. They have incited violence directly. I don’t know what else is calling for the other filming the rubber bullet. If you do that in another country, if you shoot a journalist and a medical care with a deadly weapon, it is considered a war crime.
Q: Is there a King working in cooperation with law enforcement?
A: I’ve never spoke to a single organizer working with local law enforcement in Los Angeles. We are not because they are the biggest threat to our protesters now.
Q: Some of the people attending the Kings rally ask whether it is also an LGBTQ event or a pro-Palestinian event. A Dallas friend was confused when comedian Paula Poundstone became one of the speakers that were attracting attention there.
A: In the sense of political views, it is a very broad gathering. Obviously there will be more people on the left, but on the right and center there will be people marching with us. One of the most prominent speakers at the rally is Joe Walsh, who ran for president in 2020 as a Republican. There are many conservatives in our movement. There are many centricists and even people on the right who believe that it is more important to aside some of the differences in their policies to protect our country from authoritarianism.
Q: Have you received a pushback from the community or from a different political party?
A: There were no pushbacks really. I think part of the beauty of our movement is, roughly speaking, speaks to the need for a community, whether historically red or blue. That’s the whole point behind the 50501. Many states are conservative, right? However, this is not about parties, so we are watching rallies with tens of thousands of people in a very red area. This is about the state, it is about the constitution, it is about freedom, it is about the most fundamental basic protection worthy of all, and is currently trampled down by our government.
Q: You’re obviously not a fan of President Donald Trump, so I’m going to assume you’re not an Elon Musk fan either. Is there a king who has an opinion on the disbandment of two billionaires?
A: We can talk about the position of 50501, but there are two elements. One of them is that the worst people are fighting heartwarming. The other is that Elon is correct. You need to release the Epstein file.
