The contrast could not have been more striking. While Abrams tanks rolled through downtown Washington on Saturday, June 14, as part of the military parade so eagerly desired by Donald Trump for his 79^th birthday, car horns blared in hundreds of locations in protest against the same president. On this day of national protest under the slogan "No Kings," nearly 2,000 rallies were organized across the country, from the largest cities to more remote towns, along highways and on bridges, in front of government buildings and in parks. Organizers claimed millions of participants nationwide.

The map of protest activity, compiled by the organization Indivisible, reflected growing anger and apprehension, with a particular concentration in the major cities along both coasts, just as on April 5, the day of similar demonstrations. One detail stood out: More and more American citizens, mobilized to defend values as broadly shared as democracy and the rule of law, were afraid to give their names to journalists, even to foreign ones. They were afraid of being photographed. They were afraid of the consequences of their civic engagement.

Leaving behind the area around the White House, the vast Connecticut Avenue already stretched into Maryland, where, approaching a major intersection, several hundred people lined both sides of the sidewalk. Some had hastily made signs out of delivery boxes. One man had turned a paint can into a drum, beating rhythmically with sticks. Many lived in the nearby neighborhoods, full of well-kept houses nestled in greenery and carefully maintained by gardeners from Latin America. Others had come from more remote parts of the state.

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