No Kings Allowed: Indivisible Santa Barbara Organizes Its Own Parade for Trump

President Plans $100 Million Military Parade for His 79th Birthday

The No Kings protest planned by Santa Barbara Indivisible will take place along Cabrillo Boulevard and West Beach on Saturday, June 14 at 10:30 a.m., as did the Hands Off rally pictured. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

The 250th anniversary of the United States Army coincidentally falls on President Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14. In defiance to the military parade ordered up by the president for the day, “No Kings” protests are occurring nationwide that Saturday, rejecting authoritarianism and insisting that Trump take his hands off the people’s democracy. Here in Santa Barbara, the No Kings protest forms up at 10:30 a.m. along Cabrillo Boulevard.

The No Kings protests are expected to be the largest nationwide since Trump returned to office this January. Indivisible Santa Barbara and several co-sponsors are hosting the local version.

Ian Paige, a member of the Indivisible Santa Barbara team, agrees that celebrating the Army’s 250th birthday is important but said that a gigantic military parade coinciding with Trump’s birthday is something exhibited in authoritarian regimes and un-American.

Indivisible Santa Barbara objects to the wasteful use of taxpayer dollars, said Paige, and believes money could be used more effectively elsewhere. He listed USAID or veterans’ rights and resources as just a few.

“It’s a ridiculous misallocation of funding,” Paige said. “He’s defied our courts, deported American citizens, disappeared people off the streets, and now he’s forcing the military to celebrate him in a North Korean–style military parade,” Paige said in a statement from Indivisible S.B. “Enough is enough. For anyone who thinks he’s gone too far, this protest is for you.”

Taxpayer dollars are funding Trump’s $100 million parade. Army equipment, interactive displays, influencers, celebrities, NFL players, a fitness competition, and 6,600 soldiers will be present for festival goers’ entertainment, according to the U.S. Army’s official flyer. Yet, the Trump administration has cut federal programs and employees, cuts that have impacted all sectors of life. In Santa Barbara, residents who use the food-stamp program, have health care through Medicaid, or attend a school that runs with federal dollars would be adversely affected by Trump’s proposed budget.

The Trump administration has also turned a deaf ear to court orders blocking the removal of immigrants without due process. The most notorious case is that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, illegally deported in March — and only returned today — despite a Supreme Court ruling in April that told the Trump administration to “facilitate” his return. Trump’s executive orders have also usurped the role of Congress in creating agencies, like DOGE, or dismantling an agency like the Department of Education.

While Trump’s celebration is taking place along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the cities and small towns of America are organizing No Kings protests to push back on Trump’s rule largely unconstrained by either the courts or the Republican-majority Congress. Paige said that in Santa Barbara, they are looking forward to a nice, pleasant day of peaceful protests.

Indivisible Santa Barbara is expecting local leaders like Oscar Gutierrez, Assemblymember Gregg Hart, and Congressmember Salud Carbajal to be in attendance. Their goal is to form a human chain along Cabrillo Boulevard from Calle Cesar Chavez to Castillo Street. Organizers said that they also encourage protesters to visit Santa Barbara’s Juneteenth celebration that day. The Juneteenth block party at the Plaza del Mar bandshell at Cabrillo and Castillo starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m.