Hollywood star Jack Black spotted near anti-Trump protest ‘No Kings’ rallies
A Hollywood A-lister got up in a major anti-Trump LA protest, as celebrities joined ‘No Kings’ demonstrations across the US.
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Hollywood star Jack Black has been spotted walking alongside demonstrators at an anti-Donald Trump protest in Los Angeles.
The actor and comedian, who recently appeared in A Minecraft Movie, kept a low profile in a T-shirt, shorts, headphones and a black backpack near the ‘No Kings’ protest at the intersection of North Vermont and Prospect Avenue.
Video shared online shows Black high-fiving two young fans and briefly filming the crowd before crossing busy Prospect Avenue, where protesters cheered and waved American flags.
While Black didn’t appear to be actively participating in the protest, fans were quick to flood social media with praise.
“Jack Black has always had love for Mexicans,” wrote one woman.
Another said: “Of course Nacho Libre is for the Mexican people.”
The actor made headlines last year when he cancelled the remainder of his band Tenacious D’s world tour after bandmate Kyle Gass made a controversial comment about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt during their Australian show in Newcastle.
“Don’t miss Trump next time,” Mr Gass said on stage in July 2024.
In a statement following the incident, Black said he was “blindsided” by the remark, which Gass later apologised for.
“I would never condone hate speech or encourage political violence in any form,” he said.
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CELEBS JOIN PROTESTS
Other high-profile US actors also appeared at ‘No Kings’ rallies held across the country on Saturday – the same day President Biden held a military parade to mark the US Army’s 250th anniversary and celebrated his 79th birthday.
Avengers actor Mark Ruffalo joined protesters in New York, telling crowds: “It’s on us, guys. Literally, together, we’re the Avengers now. No one’s going to come and save us, man. Americans unite.”
Talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel was spotted at a rally in Los Angeles, while Glenn Close joined demonstrators in Montana.
“A huge, inspiring and yes – peaceful – turnout in the South Bay. I met many people who love this country and still believe it to be a force for good. I am grateful to see so many Americans take action to stand up for our friends and neighbours, most of all, my parents,” Kimmel wrote on Instagram.
“I know how fortunate I am to have been born into a family that taught me to care about others and that the most important words ever spoken are ‘Love one another.’ It really is as simple as that. #NoKings.”
PROTESTERS FLOOD US STREETS
Estimations of crowds in the millions have taken to all sizes of cities across the United States as protesters held rallies across the country opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The demonstrations, which galvanised around Mr Trump’s 79th birthday and the pomp and ceremony of a nationalistic military parade, cap a week of demonstrations against immigration raids that began in Los Angeles and spread nationwide.
The ‘No Kings’ protests were organised by a coalition of various groups who expected rallies in all 50 US states, calling them the largest show of public disapproval since Mr Trump returned to office in January.
The protests have the purpose of “rejecting authoritarianism, billionaire-first politics, and the militarisation of our democracy”, AFP reports.
Wielding signs with messages like “No KKKings” and “No crown for the clown,” the protests stood in stark contrast to a massive military parade in Washington on Saturday.
The parade was meant to commemorate the founding of the US Army, but also fell on the US president’s 79th birthday.
As thousands of soldiers marched and tanks rumbled through Washington’s streets, protesters across the country slammed Mr Trump as a “fascist.”
“We have a dictator,” said Robin Breed, a 56-year-old retired nurse, in Austin, Texas, where thousands demonstrated while surrounded by hundreds of police and state troopers.
“He is trampling on people’s lives, he’s militarising our streets, he is terrorising our communities,” he said, insisting it was important “to push back and say it’s our country, not his.”
In New York, tens of thousands of people, many wearing raincoats and carrying colourful umbrellas, marched down Fifth Avenue in a downpour to the sounds of drums, bells and chants of “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!”
Actors Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo were seen getting drenched among the protesters.
“I’m miserable and outraged about how this administration is destroying the ideals of the American Constitution,” Polly Shulman, a 62-year-old museum employee, told AFP.
Holding a sign reading “Protect the Constitution,” she said the most shocking thing was “the illegal deportations of law-abiding residents.
They were “being kidnapped and disappeared and sent to torture prisons in foreign countries.”
At least four protesters in New York were arrested at a separate, smaller protest against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, police said.
“I think people are mad as hell,” said Lindsay Ross, a 28-year-old musician who urged others to show “the administration that we’re not going to take this.”
Bill Kennedy, a retired psychologist from Pennsylvania, was in Washington protesting a few hours before Trump’s $45 million parade.
“I’m tired of the current administration. I think they’re a bunch of fascists,” he said, describing the military parade as “ridiculous.”
Suzanne Brown in Boston also lamented the money spent on the parade “for one man’s vanity.”
NO KINGS PROTESTS IN LA
Massive “No Kings” protests were also underway in Los Angeles, which in recent days has been rocked by demonstrations over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, as federal agents swept up even law-abiding undocumented people.
On Saturday, protesters shouted “You are not welcome here” at some of the 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines that Trump dispatched to the city against the wishes of local and state authorities.
With a giant orange Trump-in-a-diaper balloon towering above them, thousands filled the city streets, sporting slogans like “No faux-king way” and “Impeach Trump.”
Members of Russian feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot held up a large banner in front of city hall warning: “It’s beginning to look a lot like Russia.”
After a day of largely peaceful protests, police on Saturday evening unexpectedly began moving people away from the protest area, igniting confusion and anger among demonstrators caught off guard and unsure of where to go.
Police on horseback pushed crowds back as law enforcement fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades hours ahead of an 8pm (0300 GMT) curfew.
A police spokeswoman said a “small group of agitators” had begun throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers, prompting the decision to order the crowd to disperse.
If people refused to leave, “we will make arrests,” she said, adding: “We have been patient all day.” There was unrest elsewhere, too, with at least one person “critically injured” in a shooting at a demonstration in the western US city of Salt Lake City, police said, with local media reporting the incident took place at a “No Kings” rally.
In Virginia, police said a man in Culpepper “intentionally” rammed his car into a group of demonstrators as they left an anti-Trump event. No injuries were reported.
79TH BIRTHDAY AND MILITARY PARADE
US President Donald Trump revelled in a long dreamt-of military parade on his 79th birthday, as demonstrators across the country branded him a dictator in the biggest protests since his return to power.
Mr Trump stood and saluted as tanks rumbled past, aircraft roared overhead and nearly 7,000 troops marched through Washington at an event officially marking the 250th anniversary of the US Army — at a cost of up to A$70 million.
It came as “No Kings” protests turned violent across the US, with a man intentionally driving an SUV into a crowd of demonstrators in Culpepper, Virginia.
The man, identified by authorities as Joseph R Checklick Jr, was arrested and charged with reckless driving, Fox News reports.
Ahead of the military event, Mr Trump said the Washington parade would be “like no other” — but promised to use “very big force” if protesters attempt to disrupt the spectacle.
“This is a big day for America!!!” Mr Trump said on his Truth Social platform of the event,
the largest such parade in the United States in decades.
At the same time, protests by the so-called “No Kings” movement took place across the United States against what organisers say is a Trump personality cult.
Protests took place in New York, Houston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Atlanta and Mr Trump’s second home in Palm Beach, Florida. A small group of demonstrators even gathered in Paris.
The military parade is the biggest in Washington since the end of the Gulf War in 1991 and has led to accusations by Mr Trump’s opponents that he is behaving like a king.
Soldiers will wear uniforms dating back through US history to its independence from Britain as they march past landmarks including the Washington Monument to end up at the White House.
The parade is meant to end with the army’s Golden Knights parachute team dropping in to present Mr Trump with a US flag — on Flag Day, which marks the adoption of the Stars and Stripes.
Mr Trump has been obsessed with having a parade since his first term as president when he attended France’s annual Bastille Day parade in Paris at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron.
Critics have accused Mr Trump of acting like autocrats in Moscow or Pyongyang. California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, who slammed Trump for sending National Guard troops into Los Angeles without his consent, called it a “vulgar display of weakness.”
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Originally published as Hollywood star Jack Black spotted near anti-Trump protest ‘No Kings’ rallies
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