Protesting the direction of the country under President Donald Trump, people gathered on Saturday in the nation's capital and communities across the US for "No Kings" demonstrations that the president's Republican Party disparaged as "Hate America" rallies.
With signs such as "Nothing is more patriotic than protesting" or "Resist Fascism", in many places the events looked more like a street party. There were marching bands, a huge banner with the US Constitution's "We The People" preamble that people could sign, and protesters wearing inflatable costumes, particularly frogs, which have emerged as a sign of resistance in Portland, Oregon.
It was the third mass mobilisation since Trump's return to the White House and came against the backdrop of a government shutdown that not only has closed federal programmes and services but is testing the core balance of power, as an aggressive executive confronts Congress and the courts in ways that protest organisers warn are a slide toward authoritarianism.
Trump himself was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
"They say they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king," Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired early on Friday, before he departed for a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc fundraiser at his club. Protests were expected there on Saturday.
Nationwide demonstrations
People packed into New York City's Times Square, Boston Common and Chicago's Grant Park; outside state capitols in Tennessee and Indiana and a courthouse in Billings, Montana; and at hundreds of smaller public spaces. More than 2,600 rallies were planned on the day, organisers said.
Many protesters were angered by attacks on their motives. In Washington, Brian Reymann said being called a terrorist all week by Republicans was "pathetic".
More than 1,500 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama, evoking and openly citing the city's history of protests and the critical role it played in the Civil Rights Movement two generations ago.
"It just feels like we're living in an America that I don't recognise," said Jessica Yother, a mother of four. She and other protesters said they felt camaraderie by gathering in a state where Trump won nearly 65 per cent of the vote last November.
"It was so encouraging," Yother said. "I walked in and thought, Here are my people."