FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A crowd of protesters were turned back by sheriff’s deputies Saturday morning after approaching President Donald Trump’s home in Palm Beach, as part of a national day of demonstrations against what protesters see as Trump’s excessive accumulation of executive power.

Walking along a road lined with police cars, several hundred demonstrators chanted “No kings, USA!” in a procession that stretched for blocks. Florida Highway Patrol troopers lined the road on the other side of the bridge, carrying shields and zip ties. On the other side of the road, separated by the troopers, a single Trump supporter standing near a truck bearing a “go ICE” slogan.

Demonstrators denounced the arrests of immigrants, dramatic cuts in social services and what they saw as Trump’s push toward authoritarian government, as exemplified by the spectacle of tanks rolling through Washington, D.C., Saturday in a military parade ordered by the president.

“As a Cuban, I feel that it’s very important to speak up for what we see that is wrong,” said Madelaine Margolese, who had grown up under that country’s communist government, as she walked on the bridge toward Trump’s home. “Not many Cubans are on our side, but as coming from a dictatorship, I see the signs coming, and I don’t want to fall into that same regime that I fled my country for.”

The marchers halted before Palm Beach County sheriffs deputies in shields and helmets at the end of the bridge.

“They’re armed up like we’re some kind of invading force,” said Shel Shanak, 69, one of the marchers stopped by deputies, noting the march was peaceful. “Our flags, our signs, our voices — that’s all we’ve got.”

The protesters had gathered at Phipps Skate Park in West Palm Beach, just over a mile from the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate, carrying signs and waving American flags. To the sound of a banging a drum, they cheered and chanted “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA” and carried signs that read “SILENCE = COMPLIANCE ABOLISH ICE NOW,” “and “NO FAUX KING WAY.”

The robust early turnout came as a relief to one demonstrator, Peter Smith, 29, who had worried that people weren’t speaking out enough as the country went down a “dark path” toward fascism.

“Throwing a North Korea-style military parade in the U.S. is ridiculous,” he said. “Mass deportations are ridiculous. Taking armed and armored ICE agents into schools, workplaces restaurants. It all looks like fascism and we need to do everything we can to stop it.”

Organized by a coalition of liberal groups under the “No Kings” banner, an estimated 2,000 demonstrations are planned across the United States to coincide with Trump’s birthday and the spectacle of a military parade through Washington, D.C.

Major demonstrations planned in South Florida include a march from Phipps Skate Park to Mar-a-Lago, a rally at Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach and a rally at Sunrise Boulevard on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. Other demonstrations are planned in Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Miami, among other cities.

More than 2,000 people showed up for a demonstration on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, said Charmelle Gambill, one of the organizers.

“We’re doing this because we want to stop authoritarianism, and what they have done,” she said. “They’re stripping away our rights.”

“It’s bigger than politics,” she said. “They’re deporting our citizens, they’re dividing our courts, they have slashed our social services and given them to their allies.”

“What you see here are people who are united and don’t want to be ruled,” she said.

They stayed on the sidewalk, along both sides of State Road A1A, and no problems were reported except for a few demonstrators overcome by the heat.

Barricades lined the road separating the east sidewalk from the street. There was a cacophony of car horns in response to signs carried by demonstrators that read “Honk to impeach.” Other signs read, “Make Tacos Great Again,” No Kings Since 1776,” and “The Real Criminal is in the White House.”

Repeated chants of “This is what democracy looks like” burst from the crowd.

Army veteran Don McCoy, who served in the 173rd Airborne Bridge in Vietnam, held a sign showing Trump in uniform and sunglasses with the words “King Jong-Trump? Nope. He’s got to go.”

“Something tells me they’re not going to get the message,” McCoy said. “But this is important.”

The Fort Lauderdale event took place without any problems, aside from a few demonstrators experiencing issues with the heat.

At 1:15 p.m. the Fort Lauderdale Police Department tweeted, “The demonstration at A1A and East Sunrise Boulevard is wrapping up. It was a peaceful event with no incidents. Traffic in the area has resumed its normal flow.”

On the bridge to Trump’s home in Palm Beach, as protesters marched as far as sheriff’s deputies would let them, four Trump supporters stood on the opposite sidewalk, two of them near a truck with Trump flags and “Go ICE” written on a window.

On the sidewalk at the bridge’s midpoint, two men said they showed up to support the president on his birthday, though Trump supporter Thomas Miske said the protesters provided “a little extra motivation” and he was happy to see his Trump shirt “infuriated quite a few of them.”

Like the protesters, Miske said immigration was one of his top issues. He believes in deporting criminals, but was sympathetic to immigrants who are hard workers with no criminal records, saying deporting them was “too heavy handed and wasn’t thought out.”

“The criminals, I want them out and I want them out now,” Miske said. “Other people who are working and want a better life for their families. I support them.”

Gabriel Renfore, who wore a T-shirt with pictures of Kid Rock, concurred.

“I love my country,” he said. “I think President Trump loves this country.”

Shortly before 10:30 a.m. at the Meyer Amphitheatre, where West Palm Beach rallies were set to converge for speeches in the afternoon, people were already setting up lawn chairs and beach towels.

The gathering had the relaxed feeling of a music festival, with people sitting on the grass talking, eating snacks, with a few people dancing in the grass in front of the stage stage and a child kicking a soccer ball. But people in attendance said they considered the president to be a profound threat to the United States as a free country.

“Trump appears to be trying to establish an authoritarian government,” said George Harper, 79, of Boca Raton, seated on a shaded, grassy hill. “He has all the characteristics of a demagogue.”

“All he cares about is himself,” he said. “He’s not really a leader. We feel extremely frustrated by watching the news, seeing what’s happening to our country. The only direction we can go to have any influence at all is to come out to these protests.”

As the crowd gathered, vendors sold anti-Trump memorabilia, with the proceeds going toward voter registration. One tent sold a blue T-shirt that said “I am an immigrant” and blue MAGA-style hats that said, “Make America Kind Again.”

At Phipps Skate Park, Paulina Parraga, a former American history teacher, said her main concern Saturday aside from immigration was Trump’s disregard for due process.

“The fact that he really believes he’s above the law,” she said. “And fact that he has no respect for the Constitution.”

She brought her daughter in law, Tania Beltran, a recent immigrant from Colombia, and Tania’s sister, Sara Beltran, who was visiting from Colombia. Before heading out Saturday, they wondered whether they should bring their passports, despite Beltran being a legal immigrant and Parraga, the daughter of Colombian immigrants, being a U.S. citizen.

“I’m an immigrant,” Tania Beltran said. “Trump hates immigrants … Everyone knows the people — they are the more hard workers are the immigrants. They are the ones that do the jobs no one wants to do.”

As organizers gathered protesters at the park to prepare for the march to Mar-a-Lago, Ram Om, 67, waved a tattered American flag at cars on South Dixie Highway.

“That’s the condition of our country right now,” he said, referring to the flag. “It’s getting beat up, it’s getting torn apart, and there’s no place but down in the trajectory that we’re going right now.”

As the marchers headed towards Mar-a-Lago, three Trump supporters stood at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Dixie Highway with a “Trump 2028” flag and yelled “Free speech!” “Get out of my country!” and “You guys are so unhappy!”

Shalon Bull, a Palm Beach County science teacher, attended with her two daughters to protest what she saw as Trump’s attacks on science and education.

“There are reasonable, educated citizens that want a better tomorrow based on evidence, based on science, based on fairness and compassion for others, and democracy,” she said.

A boat parade to celebrate Trump’s birthday will take place on the Intracoastal Waterway from Jupiter Inlet to Mar-a-Lago, an event that has been held annually.

Leaders of the demonstrations have promised the events would be peaceful. But Florida’s Republican leaders, pointing to the violence that attended some of the pro-immigrant protests in Los Angeles, warned demonstrators that any violence would meet an aggressive response.

During an interview this week with a conservative podcast host, Gov. Ron DeSantis told motorists that if “a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety. And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you. You don’t have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier warned in a news conference Thursday that any rioters would face arrest. At the same news conference, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey warned that violent protesters could face a lethal response from law enforcement.

“Throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at,” he said. “Because we will kill you graveyard dead. We’re not going to play.”

South Florida police agencies remained on the alert with ramped-up street patrols.

Fort Lauderdale Police spokeswoman Casey Liening said in a prepared statement that the department was “aware of multiple demonstrations” on Saturday.

“There will be a noticeable law enforcement presence and officers will be monitoring all events closely to ensure the safety of participants, motorists, and our residents,” Liening said. “We urge participants to immediately report suspicious or nefarious activity. Safety will always be our top priority.”

West Palm Beach Police said in a statement Friday that residents should expect “significant traffic delays in the downtown area on Saturday, June 14, due to planned demonstrations. The events are expected to draw large crowds, and several roadways may be impacted by heavier-than-normal traffic … The West Palm Beach Police Department supports everyone’s right to peaceful assembly and is committed to ensuring the safety of all participants and members of the public. Please stay aware of your surroundings.”

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