United States President Donald Trump has warned people against protesting at the weekend military parade in Washington that marks the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary.
"For those people that want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force," Trump told reporters in the White House's Oval Office.
Around 7,000 soldiers are set to march in the parade taking place on the President’s birthday while protests are being staged across the country by a coalition of pro-democracy, labor and liberal activists and is being dubbed the ‘No Kings’ protest.
“The goal here is to deprive Trump of what he wants in this moment, which is a story about him being the all-powerful political figure of our time, and instead create a contrast with normal, everyday people demonstrating that power in this country still resides with the people,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible said.
The mass protests come as California governor Gavin Newsom has accused Trump of taking a “wrecking ball” to democracy and has encouraged to people to act in a new video.
"California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived,” Newsom said.
Newsom made the decision after filing a lawsuit against the president for deploying around 4,000 National Guard and Marines on protesters in Los Angeles. The protests in Los Angeles are in response to Trump pushing back on immigration policies and enacting mass deportations.
“This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president enflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our national guard at risk," Newsom said in the video.
