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Thousands of demonstrators took over Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday in a peaceful protest against the policies of President Donald Trump and his administration.

Organizers designated Philadelphia as ground zero in their national movement, dubbed “No Kings,” which consisted of an estimated 2,000 rallies across the country. It was the largest rally in the city during Trump’s second term, which was in part a response to the president’s military parade in Washington D.C.

Marchers expressed a litany of concerns, including the White House’s immigration policies that include raids by federal immigration officers. In addition to flags, protesters carried signs with messages such as “Make oligarchy go away,” “No faux king way,” “No jawn is above the law,” “Stop kidnapping our neighbors” and “Help resettle 4,700 + refugees.”

Anu Joshi, national campaign director for immigration at the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the leading organizers, said people appear motivated by the “cruelty” they are seeing from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

“We’re just seeing the incredible abuse of power that this administration is exercising and people just can’t sit on the sidelines anymore,” she said. “I think when you see children being zip tied by agents wearing face masks and ripped away from their parents because they are going to their court date, people are moved by that and they don’t want to live in a country where that is the law of the land.”

By 11:30 a.m., Love Park was already overflowing with people who took up the sidewalks before the rally started. At around 12:15 p.m., rally goers started up Benjamin Franklin Parkway toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art, marching down the empty street cordoned off by police cars and other city vehicles as light rain began to fall.

Jon Cutler marched down the parkway in his U.S. Navy uniform. The 69-year-old, who lives in Philadelphia, said he served as a U.S. Navy officer for more than 30 years, including in combat operations in two wars.

“April 30, 1985, I raised my right hand to serve my nation against foreign and domestic enemies and to uphold the law,” Cutler said. “What really turned me against this administration was when he criticized John McCain, who was a hero, and he calls all of us veterans losers, and when he mocked the losers at the World War II cemetery in France, and has absolutely no respect for us, that is unconscionable.”

Cutler said he “was willing to die” for the United States because of his belief in the Constitution.

“Even though we’re not a perfect nation, we have a lot of flaws, but because of the foundation of the Constitution … we can always evolve and change to become better people,” he said. “And the Constitution provides that for us. And when you have someone in power right now who has no respect for it, and … wants to get rid of the Constitution, it goes against the very core of how I define myself.”

James Higgins, an 84-year-old Navy veteran from Delaware, said he is concerned about the layoffs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and reduction of veteran benefits.

Higgins said that the White House is “moving towards a dictatorship” and Trump is using the courts in order to “advance his political agenda.” He said he opposed the military parade in Washington D.C. that was happening the same day.

“It’s one thing for the army to celebrate, but they should not do it in public with tanks,” Higgins said. “They should do it in an enclosed environment, on a Navy or Army post, and we certainly should not combine Trump’s birthday with him.”

Mike Madera, 28, of West Philadelphia, joined a pro-Palestine contingent of the protest. He said he has been working to support people in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023.

“There is no ‘progressive’ … without Palestine,” he said. “I’m also here because I really don’t think any of us want to be brought into any sort of like violence.”

Lauren Gauthier, 46, of Phoenixville, who is marking her 12th rally, said that she felt a responsibility to stand up for those most affected by Trump’s recent policies, including immigrants and members of the LBGTQ+ community.

“Obviously there’s so much overreach, so that’s certainly one of the reasons I’m here, but the things that are tugging at my heartstrings most these days are just the treatment of vulnerable people,” Gauthier said. “I am a white woman. There’s a lot of privilege afforded to me in that. And so I think it’s important for me to come out and put myself on the line because it’s a little bit easier for me to do that.”

That included Gauhtier’s companion James, who wouldn’t give his last name because of concerns of being targeted as a transgender man. The New Jersey resident said he has had to learn to live with members of his family who support Trump, a situation he blames on the right-wing media.

“That has been extremely devastating for me to try to figure out,” he said. “There is no fact checking with people. There is no debate with reason. There’s just argument. And when people are presented with actual facts and video footage, they just shut down and leave the room and it’s trash.”

In addition to thousands of local participants, people came from beyond the tri-state region.

Casey Holden, 27, said she traveled from Covington, Louisiana, to protest what she said are the “beginning stages” of authoritarianism.

She said that in addition to wanting to boost numbers at the Philadelphia protest, a national flagship, she came to be around “like-minded people.”

“My grandparents have a framed picture of Trump and Melania next to my baby pictures in their house. I can’t get to my house without passing at least 10 Trump signs in people’s front yards,” she said. “Some of my friends who are like-minded like me are scared to post anything about it because of the backlash from their community.”

Jonathan Riehl, 41, and Jennifer Riehl, 42, who are members of the Union of Concerned Scientists, brought their 8-year-old daughter Caitlin to protest changes in climate change research and initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, among other concerns.

The couple said it was important to them to have their daughter with them.

“She’s here because I want her to see we’re not alone,” Jennifer said. “There’s a lot of people who are concerned about what’s going on, and that we can say something about it and do it in a nonviolent way, and that can make a difference.”

Many protesters carried American flags, a departure from prior rallies where Mexican and Palestinian flags were more visible. Trump and conservative commentators characterized the images of protestors carrying Mexican flags during demonstrations in Los Angeles as a “foreign invasion.”

James Seibert, 50, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, said he wanted to put “an American face” on resistance to Trump.

“I’m trying to show that we are better than this, and trying to make a representation of that for the rest of the world and for fellow Philadelphians and the Philadelphia region,” Seibert said, citing the actions of ICE as one of his concerns, as well as “division between left and right.”

“It frustrates me and makes me very angry,” he said. “I feel like, unfortunately, Donald Trump brings out the worst in everybody, even his supporters and his detractors alike.”

Kathy Miller, a 76-year-old therapist from Germantown, said she was protesting Saturday because she’s concerned about people’s mental health due to the Trump administration’s actions.

“Many of my clients have already been traumatized in their lives, and this is just triggering every possible bad thing for them,” she said. “So it’s terrible for people’s mental health as well as their physical well-being.”

Pamela Gayles-Butler, of Camden, said she came out because of “the ugliness of what’s going on in this country with Donald Trump and his administration, and how Congress has become so complicit with all the things that are going on, and just allowing him to just run roughshod on the American people.”

A teacher with the School District of Philadelphia, Gayles-Butler said her top concerns include preserving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, federal cuts to education and national security.

At Eakins Circle, the crowd gathered to listen to speeches from local and national leaders, including U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, Bishop William J. Barber, the co-executive directors of Indivisible, Martin Luther King Jr. III and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

Weingarten talked about the attack on education and civic discourse, as well as the impact immigration policy is having on students nationwide. The union represents 1.8 million members, including 3,000 local affiliates in Philadelphia and around Pennsylvania.

She told WHYY News that her members have been “beside themselves” about their students being detained by ICE and many are “fearful” of going to school.

“We used to say that these kids have a right to be here if they did nothing wrong. Let them partake in the dream of America,” she said. “This is a specific kind of cruelty and educators have a special responsibility to teach, but they also have a special responsibility to protect and that’s why they are out in force throughout the country.”

In his speech, Raskin gave a catalogue of Trump’s actions, which he said were examples of “trampling the law,” including the recent arrest of a judge, the Jan. 6 pardons and profiting from the presidency.

Raskin later told WHYY News that Philadelphia was a fitting site for the “No Kings” movement.

“This is where the Declaration of Independence came out and was signed, it’s where the Constitutional Convention took place, and Philadelphia has been at the center of so many of our freedom movements,” he said. “We may not get to be founding fathers from the 18th century, but we get to be founding fighters in the 21st century.”

Joshi, of the ACLU, said that it’s fully up to the people to fight.

“I think what today demonstrates is that it’s not going to be the elected officials that save us,” she said. “We’re going to need millions of people in the streets organizing in their communities.”

Around 6:30 p.m., dozens of people gathered in a separate, anti-ICE protest outside of the federal detention center at 7th and Arch streets. The group marched through Center City towards 13th and Walnut streets, where a confrontation between protesters and police broke out. Police appeared to arrest several people, but told WHYY News they did not yet have a total number of arrests to share at this time.

WHYY News interns Vida Lashgari and Davis Cuffe contributed to this story.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to correct a name: Jamie was changed to Lauren. This article has also been updated to reflect the correct route the protesters took. WHYY is committed to accuracy and transparency in our reporting.