Protest

A state plan to house as many as 1,000 immigrants with criminal records in a remote Everglades area "fenced-in" by alligators and pythons brings protestors to abandoned former jetport area off U.S. 41. The area, inside Big Cypress National Preserve, retains special and sacred meaning to Native Americans and conservationists.

They came by the thousands in Southwest Florida, by the tens of thousands across the state and by the millions across the U.S. — for a variety of reasons both political and philosophical but bonded by fear and hope.Saturday was both a protest and a rally called No Kings Day, a reference to claims that President Donald Trump wanted to be a monarch over what has been a republic.

Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids and President Donald Trump’s move to mobilize the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles are spreading nationwide and are expected to continue into the weekend. While many have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, some protesters have clashed with police, leading to hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds. Activists say they will hold even larger demonstrations in the coming days with “No Kings” events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump’s planned military parade through Washington, D.C.

The "No Kings" protests are a response to the president's military parade in the nation's capital.

Collier County residents gathered this past weekend to hear from a potential 2026 candidate for governor. WGCU’s Cary Barbor was there.

Protests decrying the economy, politics and related topics continue across Southwest Florida.

Protests in Naples and Fort Myers collected around 2,000 people and a similar number gathered elsewhere in Southwest Florida to make their feelings known about the current political situation in Washington, D.C.

Southwest Florida segments of a nationwide protest that raged on Saturday drew significant numbers with more than 1,000 attending a rally in Fort Myers.There were multiple organizers for the Saturday protests including the Women's March, Hands Off, and 50501. Whatever the inspiration, it drew a lot of interest.

Not cozying up to dictators; Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' benefits are crossover issues bringing Democrats and Republicans together; 1,000 pledge to attend anti-Trump policies rally in Naples.

A rally to protest possible cuts in Social Security and Medicare will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at the Naples Hilton, 5111 Tamiami Trail North in Naples.