Demonstrators waving red hammer-and-sickle flags near Times Square on Saturday chanted "there is only one solution, communist revolution", a scene captured on video by independent journalist Oliya Scootercaster and posted to X, while across the country, federal officers were pelted with rocks, bottles, and concrete blocks outside a Los Angeles federal building, and arrests followed clashes in Portland and Dallas.
The Saturday mobilization, billed as a "No Kings" protest, marked the third such event since June 2025. It stretched across multiple cities, drew tens of thousands to Manhattan streets alone, and featured appearances by actor Robert De Niro and New York Attorney General Letitia James. But the day's most revealing moments had little to do with celebrity photo ops. They came from the fringes that organizers either could not or would not control, and from the coalition's own partner list, which includes the Communist Party USA and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Daily Caller reported that Fox News Digital identified a network of roughly 500 organizations helping coordinate the demonstrations. Among the coalition's official partners: the Communist Party USA and the Democratic Socialists of America. That context makes the hammer-and-sickle flags and revolution chants near Times Square look less like fringe infiltration and more like a feature of the movement itself.
The most serious confrontation unfolded at the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles. The Department of Homeland Security said roughly 1,000 agitators encircled the building and pelted officers with rocks, bottles, and concrete blocks. Two DHS officers required medical attention.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli warned that "anyone who assaulted law enforcement would face federal felony charges." That warning carried weight: AP News reported that 74 people were arrested Sunday for failing to obey a dispersal order issued after the Saturday rally ended. One additional person was arrested on suspicion of possessing a weapon described by police as a dagger.
The AP noted that the Los Angeles arrests stood out from what were otherwise mostly peaceful events, with more than 3,100 "No Kings" events registered across all 50 states. Andre Andrews Jr., a Navy veteran and independent journalist, drew a sharp line between the two crowds.
"The peaceful protest was good for the cause. You have the right to do that. But the other people, they were definitely causing problems."
That distinction matters. Peaceful assembly is a constitutional right. Throwing concrete blocks at federal officers is a felony. When a movement's own coalition partners include avowed communist organizations, and its rallies produce both communist-revolution chants and injured law enforcement officers, the line between legitimate dissent and something darker gets harder to draw.
Violence also erupted outside Portland's ICE facility after daytime rallies ended. Portland police arrested three people on assault and criminal mischief charges, including a 26-year-old man who scaled the building's roof. Portland's ICE facility has a long history as a flashpoint for left-wing protest, and Saturday's events fit the pattern.
The scene in Dallas took a different shape. Police intervened to separate "No Kings" demonstrators from "Pro America" counter-protesters after the two groups clashed. Officers arrested at least one protester. Details on specific charges filed in Dallas remain unclear.
That kind of protest-related unrest and arrest has become a recurring feature of political demonstrations in major American cities, with law enforcement repeatedly forced to step between opposing crowds or respond to escalating aggression.
Manhattan hosted the largest single gathering. Tens of thousands filled the streets. The NYPD reported zero protest-related arrests, a striking contrast to the violence in Los Angeles and Portland.
But the absence of arrests does not mean the absence of extremism. Scootercaster's video showed a group near Times Square waving red hammer-and-sickle flags and chanting for communist revolution. Robert De Niro and New York Attorney General Letitia James attended the demonstrations, though the source material does not detail their specific remarks or actions at the event.
The presence of an elected state attorney general at a rally whose coalition includes the Communist Party USA raises its own questions. Even Sen. Mazie Hirono has conceded that the "No Kings" framing does not accurately describe the current political reality, an admission that undercuts the movement's own premise.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dismissed the demonstrations as "Trump derangement therapy sessions." The phrase is blunt, but the administration's posture was clear: it views the protests as performative rather than substantive.
Whether the protests are performative is debatable. What is not debatable is the record: two injured federal officers in Los Angeles, 74 arrests for defying a dispersal order, three arrests in Portland, at least one in Dallas, and open chants calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order near the crossroads of the world.
Movements are defined not only by their slogans but by the company they keep. The "No Kings" coalition counts the Communist Party USA and the Democratic Socialists of America among its official partners. Fox News Digital identified roughly 500 organizations in the broader coordination network.
Organizers of large-scale protests always face the challenge of fringe elements showing up uninvited. But when the fringe sits on the official partner list, and when the chants match the partner ideology, the "just a few bad apples" defense wears thin. Saturday was the third "No Kings" mobilization since June 2025. The pattern is not new. The communist flags are not new. The violence at federal buildings is not new.
Several open questions remain. How many people were injured in Portland and Dallas? What specific charges were filed beyond the three Portland arrests? And will the federal felony charges Essayli promised in Los Angeles actually materialize, or will the 74 people arrested for defying the dispersal order face the kind of slap-on-the-wrist treatment that has become standard in progressive jurisdictions?
Americans have every right to march, chant, and make their voices heard. That right does not extend to throwing concrete at federal officers or scaling government buildings. And when the people doing the throwing march under hammer-and-sickle flags alongside a coalition that openly includes communist organizations, the rest of us are entitled to take them at their word about what they actually want.
