'No Kings Day' Organizer Ezra Levin Talks Peaceful Protests, Avoiding D.C. Parade

TMZ

While President Trump’s busy throwing himself a flashy, taxpayer-funded birthday blowout on Saturday in Washington, D.C., a totally different kind of party's popping off across America -- and spoiler, no cake, says one political activist ... and No Kings.

Transcript

00:00There are countless organizers all around the country. There are 150 organizational sponsors.

00:07This is kind of an incredible grassroots effort. There are thousands of people who have put

00:11together these, what, now there are a couple thousand events all across the globe, across

00:16more than 20 countries. It's going to be a boisterous, empowering, joyful, peaceful demonstration

00:23of people power. That's what we're going to see, and I'm really excited for it.

00:28And you're based in Philly, which is sort of the flagship of this. Of course, that's where

00:33the Declaration of Independence was signed, which of course was saying we're free from

00:38kings. What's it going to look like? I know you're expecting some 60,000 to 80,000 people

00:44where you are.

00:44I expect it to look like a contrast. When we heard that Trump was planning this military

00:50birthday parade for himself, it's going to cost somewhere between 50 and 100 million dollars,

00:53your dollars, my dollars, all taxpayer dollars, we were worried because that's straight

00:58out of the authoritarian playbook. That's not something you would normally see in the United

01:01States of America, a military protest for dear leader's birthday. And what we didn't

01:07want to do was to give him a counter protest in the streets of D.C. that he could then use

01:14as an excuse to crack down on peaceful protests. We didn't want to give him the narrative device

01:18that we're in some way protesting the military. That's not what this is. This is the 250th anniversary

01:23of the forming of the Continental Army. This was an army that was formed to push back against

01:28a mad king. So instead we say, look, he can have downtown D.C. for that afternoon. Fine.

01:33Let the baby have his bottle. Instead, we're going to be protesting everywhere else. And so,

01:38yes, Philly is a flagship event. We're going to be in Chicago. We're going to be in L.A.

01:42We're going to be in New York. But more importantly, honestly to me, we're going to be in Homer,

01:45Alaska. We're going to be in Eureka, Montana. We're going to be in Winnebago, Wisconsin.

01:49This is in small towns and cities. This is in rural areas. This is in red areas. And it's in

01:54more than 20 countries, as I mentioned. So I think we're going to see a contrast. We're going to see

01:58a leader trying to project strength, but actually looking weak. And we're going to see the most

02:02quintessentially American thing you can think of. Normal, everyday Americans showing up in protection

02:08of their constitutional rights to freedom of speech. You used the word peaceful. And I'm wondering

02:14what your reaction was when you saw the president's response to what was happening in L.A.

02:20which obviously was not peaceful at times. But just his response, federalizing the National

02:27Guard, calling up Marines. Did it give you any, did it make you think how you approach

02:34Saturday any differently and what you tell the people who are going to be marching?

02:39And how do you ensure that it's peaceful?

02:41Yeah, look, unfortunately, I'm sorry to say I'm not surprised. This isn't a president who

02:45has really embraced peaceful organizing. This is a guy who instigated a violent riot at the

02:52Capitol on January 6th. And then given the opportunity, one of his first acts as president

02:58this year was to pardon the violent insurrectionists on January 6th. So am I surprised that Trump

03:06is now escalating, militarizing in L.A.? Unfortunately not. But I can't control what Donald Trump does.

03:14What I can do is try to work with Americans of all stripes, of all ideologies, from all geographies,

03:19and help them organize as effectively as possible. And what I would say is Donald Trump wants

03:25nothing more than chaos because chaos gives him the ability to escalate further and to claim more power

03:31and to militarize further. I view what's happy in L.A., what he is doing to L.A. as a rehearsal.

03:37This is not just happy in L.A. This is not just targeting immigrants. They are currently requesting

03:43$150 billion to increase the budget of ICE so they can do in American cities across the country what

03:49they're doing in L.A. now. The question is, do everyday Americans stand up in this moment and say,

03:55uh-uh, this is too far. You have crossed a line. We are pushing back. And the best way to do that,

04:00the only way that folks effectively have pushed back against this kind of autocratic breakthrough

04:05around the world is peaceful, nonviolent organizing. That's what builds majority support

04:12for democracy. That's what stops the autocrat in their tracks.

04:15So that's what you've told your organizers? That's basically the

04:18the pep rally speech to encourage everyone to make sure it stays peaceful?

04:23That is the so I gave you the pep rally speech. Let's get more practical. We have spent all of

04:28this week doing trainings with our volunteer organizers on the ground, trainings if you

04:33want to be a volunteer marshal at an event, trainings around public safety, trainings around the basic

04:39practical advice to give to people around how to de-escalate. It is important that we wage

04:45nonviolence because that's what works. And we don't want people wandering into these situations

04:51totally unprepared. But I will say we've got to balance that with the basic reality that

04:57this is going to be a joyful, peaceful display. That's what we saw on Hands Off in April when we

05:02had 1,300 events. That was the single largest day of protest in years at that time. 1,300 events

05:08without a single incident reported of violence or property destruction. I'm not saying we shouldn't be

05:13worried that Trump or the or the MAGAs will come at some of these events. That might happen.

05:19What I am saying is we shouldn't let them cow us into submission. We shouldn't let them spread

05:24their fear. We should demonstrate courage and we should exercise basic common sense when we show up.

05:32But we should make these community friendly events and be the protesters that we want to see out in the

05:38world.

Category

Transcript

Recommended