California DSA Chapters Swell the Ranks of “No Kings Day”
Thousands of DSA members across the state of California came out to local events on June 14, dubbed “No Kings Day”, swelling the ranks of protests from San Diego to Eureka. Here are a few snapshots drawn from the organizing of our local chapters.
East Bay DSA contingent in the “No Kings” day march in downtown Oakland.
East Bay
East Bay DSA brought out members to several events. Chapter co-chair Juan Canham told California Red, “I think it's a moment when our chapter’s commitment to using a diversity of strategies to combat fascism really came together, allowing us to be active on many fronts. As a chapter that encompasses a multitude of political tendencies it's not often that everyone is active at once but everyone I know in the chapter was active in some way on Saturday, some attending multiple events.”
EBDSA sent a sizeable contingent to the “No Kings” march in Oakland. The Oakland action went far beyond what the official organizers expected in terms of turnout. The sun was out, the vibes were good, and “the members spoke to a lot of people fed up with Trump, about how we have to defeat Trump but also the entire rotten system that brought him to power.”
On Friday night EBDSA got word from organizations it is working with that ICE had sent mass text messages to migrants in immigration court proceedings to report the next day Saturday at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) office in SF or face an “infraction. Canham said, “ISAP is a private company that runs ICE’s alternatives to detention program. It is not located in a government building. Weekend reporting is unheard of. This could only mean one thing: mass arrests.”
He added, “With little notice, and despite already being committed to three other actions on Saturday, we decided that this was critical work and sent out the call to our entire list, with the caution that we did not know how this was going to go down (earlier in the week a peaceful protest outside of the ICE office in San Francisco resulted in arrests). At 7 am on Saturday many in the chapter answered the call prepared for the worst, but between us, community and faith groups there was sufficient turnout to deter ICE and SFPD from escalating. This ended as a successful 2-day community picket where ISAP didn't even try to open the office and ICE weren't visibly present. Instead 50 plus migrants were welcomed by lawyers who gave them help with their cases.”
All of this was occurring on the same day as a previously scheduled EBDSA event, a Labor Notes Troublemakers school that the chapter had been organizing for months with a coalition of unions in the East Bay. It brought together several hundred union members, labor activists, and local officers, to build solidarity, and share successes, strategy, and inspiration.
The second-largest demonstration since Trump’s election came out in Marin for “No Kings Day”
The Marin DSA chapter worked with local immigrants rights groups to bring out 1500 people on “No Kings” day.
Marin
Marin DSA worked with a local immigrant rights group to organize a “No Kings, No Oligarchs” rally in downtown San Rafael attended by over 1,500 people. The rally featured many speakers, including chapter members who talked about defending social programs for seniors and working people, protesting the genocide in Gaza, and defending democracy by fighting oligarchy. The chapter partnered with other local organizers to speak about workers rights, protecting immigrants in our community from ICE, and US imperialism. Marin DSA co-chair Curt said, “It was the largest protest our chapter has ever organized and the second largest protest in Marin County since Trump took office.”
Anaheim
Orange County DSA sent a team to Anaheim No Kings Day, where one of the chapter co-chairs give a speech about how direct action is necessary and the Democratic Party gives no hope for liberation, and distributed chapter literature.
SVDSA contingent joined 12,000 people in San Jose
San Jose
Silicon Valley DSA comrades joined the San Jose “No Kings” rally. An estimated 12,000 people attended. One of the featured speakers was the chapter’s Rheanna, who reminded the crowd of recent events like Trump’s firing of scientists, the militarization of the local police department, and the incursions of ICE. She said, “We are going to build a movement so big so deep and powerful that no president, no King, no fascists will stand against us.” She invited the crowd to come to the next SVDSA meeting and get trained up in rapid response to be able to protect themselves and their neighbors. “Remember, we keep each other safe!” she said to cheers. [see video of her speech]
Peninsula DSA
Peninsula DSA, situated south of San Francisco, sent members to events in Pacifica, Colma, and San Mateo as well as to the big demonstration in San Francisco, to show up in solidarity and talk up DSA. Allison C reported, “We got 25 people to sign up for our newsletter, plus more folks scanned the QR code off our palm card. We definitely plan to bring more flyers (we passed out 100 plus) and signage next time.”