The Sky Was Crying: Scenes From the Dallas ‘No Kings’ Protest

Depending on your political point of view, Mother Nature might have been weeping in sympathy, or God might have been chastising protesters when the skies opened up with a downpour on the “No Kings” protest that packed Pacific Plaza in downtown Dallas on Saturday afternoon. Whatever the case, the steady rain didn’t dampen the cheers and chants of the crowd as speakers decried ICE tactics, immigration crackdowns and divisions President Donald Trump’s policies are opening in the nation.

Arlington, Flower Mound, Frisco, Fort Worth, Garland, McKinney, and other cities in North Texas held protests on Saturday, joining some 2,600 communities around the country in an event to denounce President Donald Trump and policies they say have led him to act more like a monarch than a U.S. president.

“We are here to say that our faiths stand for compassion, love and mercy … leaders must bring us together,” the Rev. Eric Folkerth told the crowd. Folkerth is one of the leaders of the Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response, an interfaith group including Christian, Muslim and Jewish clergy that organizes vigils outside Dallas’ ICE facility. He called on protesters to pray for ICE agents who are “harming their souls.”

ICE raids and immigration were a major target of the speakers, who offered solidarity with Chicago and Portland, Oregon, two Democratic-led cities that are in court fight efforts by the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops, including some from Texas, to assist ICE. Police violence, the government shutdown and attacks on federal workers and repeated calls to organize and vote were also on the speakers’ agendas.

When the rain started to fall about 40 minutes into the rally’s three-hour scheduled runtime, a sea of umbrellas opened up, and anti-Trump signs were flipped horizontally for cover, while some members of the crowd sheltered under overhangs in nearby buildings and in a neighboring parking garage. Soaked or not, the event continued. Here are some photos: