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At the London Anti-Trump “No Tyrants” Protest
Instead of “No crowns”, it’s “No clowns” in London
It was awkward. Americans in London were keen to join in the protests against Trump’s increasingly authoritarian rule; the symbolism of him holding a military parade on June 14, his birthday, was too much for many of us to tolerate without a loud response.
But in London there was a problem: June 14 was also the day the city was holding a big parade to celebrate the birthday of…King Charles. Awksause!
To avoid ruffling royal feathers, the American the organizers of the protest deftly retitled the event “No Tyrants”. Charles may have his detractors, but no one accuses the constitutional monarch of being a tyrant.
I was in London for the weekend, and simply could not miss up a chance to join my fellow Americans and express my own revulsion at the president’s waste of taxpayers money, and his mimicking of what autocrats do — use their military to glorify themselves. So, I signed up for the event. Here’s the response I got via email:
We don’t put up with mad tyrants.
NO TYRANTS is an international day of action and mass mobilization in response to increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption from Trump and his allies….PLEASE NOTE In the UK, we DO have a king…
