The contrast of No Kings weekend: Truth vs. Dare
Truth was on full display this past weekend. The No Kings mass mobilization reportedly may have been the biggest protest in American history, as millions of Americans showed up in favor of democracy, truth, freedom, and the American way.
It was a contrast and a rebuke to Trump’s birthday military parade. The regime claimed some 200,000 attendees, the number they allocated in their permits—but if you look at the 100,000 we turned out just here in the City, and then look back at the sparse bleachers and open fields in DC, there’s no way.
Photo from the Atlantic. This isn’t even the full 100,000 people. This is a small fraction of the 100,000 who filled the march route by the time the truck arrived at Civic Center Plaza.
Part of what motivated people to turn out here in SF and the greater Bay Area was the regime’s moves to meet peaceful protest with military force in Los Angeles. The regime and credulous media have been presenting a few burning Waymos as indications of mass chaos, but more scrupulous reporting such as that of MSNBC’s Jacob Soboroff has clearly shown that the protesters have largely been peaceful—it’s the LAPD, LASD, and the MAGA regime who have been bringing violence.
In those glimpses of real truth, Trump saw the power of peaceful people organizing—and it scares him. He knows as well as we do that nobody showed up to his self-glorification parade; we showed up to denounce the regime’s fascist actions.
In the wake of No Kings, truth has shone through as people’s protest signs have been included in press round-ups. Here’s one such collection from Defector, and another collection from Spanish outlet Diario As. Both of those are nationwide; more locally, we’ll highlight the two albums of photos from our event on ProBonoPhoto as well as their photos from other No Kings protests all over the Bay Area.
The function of a protest like No Kings is to send a message. The more of us who speak up and show out, the louder that message is. We can get our message through when we say it loud and clear, over and over and over again.
The Media Accountability, Balance, and Protection Group would like to equip you with the following resources to help spread truth:
“A Five-Alarm Fire for Free Speech” by PEN America. This resource from back in April collects MAGA regime actions to criminalize and suppress dissent from the first 100 days after Trump’s second inauguration.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has a timeline of Trump’s attacks on the press.
Indivisible National’s explainer about the Los Angeles protests and Trump’s attempts to suppress them with military force.
If you come up with ideas or actions we could be working on, drop us a line in Slack, in the #media_accountability channel. If you are coming to our next general meeting on Sunday, January 22, join our breakout group. We need you.