A man stands atop his truck in the intersection of Ocean and Water streets Saturday during the No Kings Day protest. Thousands of people attended, many of them blocking traffic. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)

This story has been updated with more photos from the Watsonville event.

Thousands of people gathered at the Governmental Center in Santa Cruz and in City Plaza in Watsonville Saturday for No Kings Day.

The first-of-its-kind event was held in 2,000 cities nationwide to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, and as a counter-demonstration to the $45 million military parade he was holding in Washington D.C. to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the formation of the U.S. military, and his birthday.

This story will be updated.

Watsonville Plaza was packed with thousands of people, who also lined Main Street for several blocks. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)
No Kings Day attendees in front of the Santa Cruz County Governmental Center. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)
Protesters in Santa Cruz. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)
The event in Santa Cruz ended with a short march. (Todd Guild/The Pajaronian)
Thousands attended the No Kings protest along Main Street in downtown Watsonville Saturday. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)
Ariah Arguello, 6, of Watsonville came to the protest with a simple message. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)
Watsonville Plaza and sections of Main Street filled with thousands of people Saturday. (Tarmo Hannula/The Pajaronian)
Creative homemade signs and other handheld symbols added color and contrast to the two-hour protest.
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Todd Guild
General assignment reporter, covering nearly every beat. I specialize in feature stories, but equally skilled in hard and spot news. Pajaronian/Good Times/Press Banner reporter honored by CSBA. https://pajaronian.com/r-p-reporter-honored-by-csba/
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1 COMMENT

  1. Great article.
    So many young people today!
    Many more brown people in the crowd. Huge PEACEFUL crowd.
    Impressive.
    Democracy as a verb.

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