As a cinematographer for Breitbart News, my job is to capture, and often livestream, protests of all kinds. My most recent work involved covering separate events on Saturday which were all part of the same “No Kings” protest movement.
A hint as to the underlying purpose of the “No Kings” protests can been gleaned from their official website, which directs the focus of potential activists to build “a movement powerful enough to win against authoritarian forces dead set on destroying our democracy.” The site also promotes opposition to “ICE raids” and accuses President Trump of “politicizing the military”; however, as with many leftist events, attending the protests in person leaves the impression that the focus was far more broad.
The “No Kings” protests I covered on Saturday in Manassas and Alexandria, Virginia, were both well-attended, with about 800 to 1000 activists present, which is significant, but there were many things I saw which made this country-wide event distinct:
A Majority of the People Were 60 and Older
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Most leftist protests I’ve covered in the past had a massive majority of young activists present, but not this time. What I saw was quite the opposite, with elderly people being seen everywhere. The Alexandria event was even visited by an ambulance attending to the needs of a person in their golden years.
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
A TON of Homemade Signs Were Utilized
The typical standard procedure at leftist protests is to mass produce expensive signs, promoting their cause, and to promote organizations involved with the protest, but at the “No Kings” protests, at least 99% of the signs were homemade. As a matter of fact, in my 7 years working at Breitbart I’ve never seen so many homemade signs at a leftist event. This leads me to believe it’s possible leftists activists were deeply encouraged to make their own signs by the organizers.
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Despite Speakers Promoting Peaceful Protest, Leftists Wielded Aggressive Signs that Seemingly Went Unchallenged
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
It was not hard to miss leftist speakers promoting peaceful measures in their speeches, but conflicting their rhetoric were several activists seen with signs that promoted aggression or violence. I’ll let the signs captured speak for themselves:
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
One lady wielding a sign that simply read “86 47” kindly greeted me with a middle finger once I told her what outlet I work for:
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Steve Perdie/Breitbart News
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
A Sign of the Times?
Even though the main focuses of the “No Kings” protests were to oppose “authoritarian” Trump and his “ICE raids,” a lot of the signs at the events seemed to defend mandatory spending programs like Social Security and Medicare, which seemed reflective of the older activists in attendance.
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Leftists Activists Exercised Patriotic Messaging, American Flags
Even though the “No Kings” events were held in opposition to President Trump celebrating the 250th Birthday of the U.S. Army (something considered a “made-for-TV display of dominance” by the official “No Kings” website), it seems the organizers made an effort to appropriate their side as the more patriotic one, with more American flags present than I’ve ever seen at a leftist protest.
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
Protesters Attempted to Silence Promotion of Christianity (Not Uncommon at Leftist Events)
At the Manassas “No Kings” protest a small group of Christian street-preachers were met with a man who attempted to drown out the Jesus promotion by consistently honking the horn of a parked truck:
Matthew Perdie/Breitbart News
With future events being promoted by the “No Kings” organizers, it seems we have not seen the end of this unique, but not original, brand of leftism.
