Anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ rallies drew thousands in Fresno amid worries over ICE raids
Thousands of protesters gathered peacefully Saturday at Cary Park, around Fashion Fair, and at River Park Shopping Center, as part of the nationwide “No Kings” movement, rallying against the Trump administration’s immigration raids and what organizers described as authoritarian enforcement tactics by federal agents.
Demonstrators at the two Fresno protest sites waved American and Mexican flags and held signs reading, “No Kings,” a slogan symbolizing resistance to unchecked government power. Chants, such as, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” and “The people united will never be divided!” echoed through the area as protesters lined the sidewalks of the city’s busiest shopping districts.
Because of the overflow of people, a bus stop near El Paso and Nees avenues and another at El Paso and Blackstone avenues, were shut down for safety reasons.
In River Park, there were at least 1,500 protesters, according to a rough count. And in the Fashion Fair Mall area some reports estimated attendance at 2,000 or more protesters.
There was not much of an organized counter-protest evident at either location.
Tyler Lass-mahg was among protesters mobilized by recent news of the ICE raids conducted across the country.
“We have immigrants coming now having to spend thousands of dollars to become American citizens and go through all these hoops, and they deserve their constitutional rights,” he said at River Park.
It was Flag Day, too
Mandy Silvera, a longtime Fresno resident, was one of the thousands of protesters who gathered around Fashion Fair.
“I came out because our country’s slowly turning into a dictatorship and what our current administration is doing to the people of our country is horrific,” she said. “No one here, except the Native Americans, are from this country, and I believe that we all have rights and due process and everyone should be treated humanely.”
The protests in Fresno were two of the more than 2,000 planned across the nation for Saturday, the same day President Donald Trump was holding a military parade in Washington for the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary. It’s also the president’s 79th birthday.
Nick Richardson, a city councilmember representing northern Fresno, was at the demonstration at River Park Shopping Center.
“I’m out here making sure everyone who’s in District 6 peacefully assembles, speaks their minds, and is safe. I want the businesses, safety personnel and people transiting to be safe,” he said.
Richardson also mentioned that it’s Flag Day today and what that means to him.
“That flag doesn’t stand for a nation of men or anything in the past. The flag stands for a nation built on laws. Those laws come from our Constitution,” he said. “What’s happening here is that people are executing their constitutional rights. There’s a reason it’s the First Amendment.”
Immigration protests more diverse, these days
Leonel Flores, a coordinator with the ‘May First’ coalition and the Network for Immigration Protection, was at the Cary Park protest around Fashion Fair.
“The ICE raids Donald Trump has carried out, and the unjust treatment of immigrant communities, are why I protested today,” he said. “Donald Trump thinks he’s a dictator, a king, and that’s not acceptable in a democracy.”
Flores, who has lived in Fresno since 1989, added that it’s important the immigrant community continues to participate in these protests.
“I’ve been seeing a lot more immigrants at the protests compared to prior years. There’s a lot more of them mixed in with the American protesters,” he said.
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM.