Today, millions across the United States will demonstrate against the threats to democracy.

It’s Saturday, a day to relax, although on this day, June 14, 2025, things are more complicated and conflicting. Pam Marino here, reflecting on the day ahead, when millions of people across the country will be exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly in response to a direct threat to our democracy.

It is Flag Day, celebrating the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the country’s official flag. In Washington, D.C., it’s a day for a parade that was initially designed to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary that has morphed into a show of military might on what is President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, at an estimated cost of up to $45 million.

Today has also been advertised for weeks as “No Kings Day,” a national day of protest. Around 1,600 demonstrations are planned across the nation, including two here in Monterey County.

Protests are planned from noon-2pm in Salinas at the corner of Blanco Road and South Main Street, and from 2-4pm in Monterey at Window on the Bay, along Del Monte Avenue.

For those who want to specifically celebrate Flag Day and Trump’s birthday, the Monterey County Republican Party organized an event taking place from 11am-1pm at Bataan Park in Salinas, where Salinas, E. Market and N. Main streets come together.

Editor Sara Rubin reported earlier this week that as the planning for the No Kings protests was ongoing, events were boiling over in Los Angeles. It’s been a tumultuous week for Los Angeles and the state, which continues to stand up in federal court and the court of public opinion to the Trump Administration’s authoritarian efforts.

So here we are, on the anniversary of when our newly created democracy chose its colors, during the semiquincentennial year of the anniversary of our army created to defend the colonies against the tyranny of a king.

I told a nervous woman on Threads who asked if it was safe to bring her family to Monterey for a long-planned trip—given events in L.A.—that we’ll be fine, it’s perfectly safe. Certainly come visit. Every protest I’ve witnessed here in Monterey County has been peaceful. I expect today’s demonstrations to also be peaceful.

My hope is that all demonstrations across the country, including L.A., remain peaceful today and that our democracy will withstand this latest test.