More than 2,500 locations are being listed for a country-spanning No Kings demonstration on Saturday. Close to 90 of those locations are in Florida with about a dozen spread throughout Southwest Florida from Bradenton to Naples and Sanibel to Sebring.
The events are being called a response to what has been termed as actions that resemble authoritarianism carried out by the Trump Administration.
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"Thousands of us are uniting to support events on October 18, where millions of us will join together to make clear to President Trump that we don't do dictators or kings in America," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization with over 1 million members and supporters and a partner in the Oct. 18 events.
Gilbert, speaking at a virtual national organizing meeting Tuesday evening, added: "We're going to continue to stand together to peacefully and relentlessly support each other and our broader communities, because that is what we all do as Americans."
No Kings organizers said the Saturday event was being called because of everything that has happened since January.
"We know the reason why we're showing up on October 18, this Saturday, is because of everything they continue to do, from abducting our neighbors off the streets, from slashing Medicaid and Medicare, from attacking trans people," Eunic Epstein-Ortiz, national spokeswoman for the "No Kings" movement, said at that same organizing meeting. "We want to make sure we're telling the stories of everyone who has suffered direct harm from this administration. That's why we're taking to the streets this Saturday, and that's why your story is so important."
Non-violence and peaceful demonstration was being urged at the meeting.
"We're peaceful, we're full of joy. We believe that our country doesn't have kings, and we're going to make some noise about it," Epstein-Ortiz said.
The Oct. 18 event is the third such No Kings protest this year. The first was held in March and the second in June. Both attracted large groups of protesters, with the June event claiming more than 5 million nationwide.
Information on the individual protests nationwide planned Saturday is available at the No Kings website.
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