No Kings protests unfold across CA as state continues to sue Trump

The Trump resistance ignited again in the U.S. and California Saturday, underscoring a country that’s on multiple tracks to push back against the president as state lawyers prepare for two marquee court hearings against his administration this week and next.

Nationwide, some protesters held colorful signs, chanted in unison and wore inflatable costumes. It was the second No Kings protest following the first one in June, and it was much bigger this time around, according to organizers: More than 7 million people showed up across 2,700 planned events, compared to June’s rally, which included 5 million people and 2,100 events.

Demonstrators slammed the administration’s crackdown on immigration, deployment of the National Guard to Democratic-leaning states, firing of federal workers and other policies. President Donald Trump’s net approval rating is now -15 percentage points, according to The Economist. Some Californians also showed their support for the state’s redistricting measure, Proposition 50.

Protesters in Los Angeles were nonviolent, reports CalMatters’ Mikhail Zinshteyn, who was on the ground in downtown Saturday. But police officers on horseback moved on demonstrators after issuing a number of dispersal orders in the evening to clear the area. Some officers also fired less-lethal munitions. Several people were detained and there was at least one reported arrest, according to ABC 7.

Tens of thousands of protestors rallied together elsewhere in California, including the northern region of the state, San Francisco and the Bay Area, Central Valley and the Inland Empire.

In response to the nationwide protests, Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself wearing a crown, flying a jet labeled “King Trump” and targeting demonstrators with a brown substance.

California’s Attorney General has sued the Trump administration 44 times and two of those lawsuits will see consequential court hearings this week and next. In both cases, California lawyers will seek to persuade judges to undo Trump’s control of the California National Guard. Whether Trump can federalize California troops has been an ongoing legal tussle since June and the issue has expanded to other states.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday condemned the Trump administration after a military shell detonated over Interstate 5. The shell went off during a live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps. 

Newsom had previously opposed the demonstration, arguing that it was “reckless” and closed off a section of the major freeway. No injuries were reported, though shrapnel dropped onto vehicles, reports The New York Times.

Let’s dive into some measures Newsom recently signed into law:

• Reading lessons: California will take a major step to overhaul its reading curriculum after Newsom signed a bill last week providing training for school principals and reading specialists in the “science of reading.” Also known as phonics-based instruction, this approach to reading focuses on vocabulary and sounding out words rather than learning words by sight. Read more from CalMatters’ Carolyn Jones.

• Birthing centers: After CalMatters published a series of reports detailing the state’s dire lack of birthing centers — particularly in rural areas — the governor approved a bill that would streamline licensure requirements for birthing centers, making it easier for them to receive state approval. Read more from CalMatters’ Kristen Hwang.

• Food stamp data: Newsom signed a bill by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks that bans state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase CalFresh enrollment. The Oakland Democrat’s measure is a rescission of a law Wicks successfully pushed last year. That law allowed state and local public entities — including ones related to education, crime and employment — to override all state privacy laws in order to share data about people who could potentially get food stamps. Wicks said she was reversing course in response to the Trump administration’s attempt to “weaponize state data.” Read more from Phoebe Huss of CalMatters’ College Journalism Network.

Proponents of reparations are regrouping after state lawmakers had mixed success with winning Newsom’s signature for a slate of bills intended to right the lasting damages of slavery and centuries of discrimination against Black Californians, write CalMatters’ Cayla Mihalovich and Wendy Fry. 

Of the 16 “Road to Repair” bills the California Legislative Black Caucus prioritized earlier this year, Newsom signed five into law and vetoed five others. One bill Newsom spiked would have allowed colleges to prioritize descendants of enslaved people for admissions. In his veto message, the governor said colleges “already have the authority to determine whether to provide admission preferences like this.”

State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a San Diego Democrat and chairperson of the caucus, said the caucus plans to regroup in a couple of weeks to plan its direction for next year. Two of her reparations bills were signed, including one requiring California State University to research methodologies to determine whether someone is a descendant of an enslaved person.

• Weber Pierson, in an interview: “A veto is never, in my opinion, a ‘no.’ It may be a ‘no, for now.’ It may be just a ‘no’ this year. And it may be a ‘no’ but let’s try something different.”

But Chris Lodgson, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, argues the state isn’t moving fast enough, and that passing legislation focused on more reparations research rather than directly repairing harm “is delay by design.”

Read more here.

In September the U.S. Department of Justice sued Southern California Edison for damages caused by the Eaton Fire that erupted in January. CalMatters’ Malena Carollo and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on the $40 million suit as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.