LIVE: Crowds descend on Seattle for ‘No Kings’ protests

Protesters fanned across Seattle as part of the national No Kings demonstrations opposing President Donald Trump's immigration raids and ICE policies.

6:30 p.m. Seattle

No arrests made as of early evening in Seattle, per Sgt. Patrick Michaud.

How many people protested in Seattle today? The Seattle Times says more than 70,000. We know that the main protest extended about two miles, packed with people. This does not include the protesters in other parts of the city and along Aurora Avenue North.

Sgt. Michaud says his best guess is tens of thousands of people showed up.

4:30 p.m. downtown Seattle

Our reporter has seen only six police officers today -- all part of a team that wears polo shirts and talks with protesters, rather than be dressed in combat gear. These cops are part of POET -- that stands for Police Outreach Engagement Team. They are "trained to speak with organizers and the community before protests, aiming for facilitation, not confrontation," according to the police department's blotter blog.

3:15 p.m. Tukwila

Police deployed some form of crowd control gas on protesters on Saturday in Tukwila.

The protesters went to a federal building there, where immigrants – asylum seekers – had been beckoned for a check-in.

Two immigrants wound up being detained and were expected to be sent to the ICE detention center in Tacoma.

The immigrants called to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security building were predominantly under ICE electronic supervision when they were asked to present themselves to the federal building.

While the advocates protested by holding a blockade, 15 officers with Tukwila Police Department pulled up, holding batons and an unidentified crowd control weapon that looked like a paintball gun. They issued an order to disperse to prevent the exits from being blocked.

Within 90 seconds, they used tear gas spray to open the blockade that had formed. Tukwila Police used tear gas on the crowd, Federal agents then threw a form of green gas, the combination of which effectively dispersed the crowd.

Related: Mysterious notice tells immigrants to check in at Seattle-area federal building. Two get detained

Attorneys who showed up said they'd never had weekend processing appointments like this before. Among those detained was Edipo Menezes of Brazil, who called his wife from inside the building to tell her he was being transferred to the Tacoma jail.

The Menezes have four children and moved to the U.S. four years ago.

By afternoon, it appeared he and one other person had been transported to the immigration jail.

--Gustavo Sagrero

3 p.m. Downtown Seattle

Our reporter is headed soon to the federal building, although reports from there indicate it's very quiet.

2:45 p.m. En route to downtown Seattle

Our reporter estimates the crowd could be up to 10,000 people at this point. Seattle Times says tens of thousands -- possibly more than 70,000. Several social media outlets say upward of 70,000. We'll have a better idea once we see the aerial photos.

The front of the march has reached the Seattle Center where there are drum circles, people looking for shade, and chants everywhere.

2:15 p.m. Westlake

Westlake is packed from building to building. While other protests this week have mostly focused on federal immigration enforcement, today there are chants for trans youth, democracy, and fired federal workers.

2 p.m. North Seattle

Very few Seattle Police vehicles at the protest that our reporter can see. Just a few squad cars blocking cross traffic.

The official "No Kings" protest started at Cal Anderson Park, but hundreds of people showed up in other parts of the city. Along Aurora, hundreds of protesters lined the busy thoroughfare with handmade signs.

The 50th Street Bridge over Interstate 5 in the University District had a crowd spelling out the words, N-O K-I-N-G-S.

1 p.m. Cal Anderson Park

Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park in Seattle was packed by noon on Saturday, part of the national “No Kings” demonstrations against the Trump administration's ICE raids and immigration crackdown.

After nearly a week of daily marches in Seattle, the largest crowd yet met in the park -- loud and energized.

Like most demonstrations in Seattle this week, the noon rally was peaceful with families bringing small toddlers along with homemade protest signs.

It's unclear exactly how many people were there as of 1 p.m., but the crowd was so large it stretched from the entire length of the park from the Black Lives Matter street mural on Pine to the Danny Street entrance.

While other protests this week were focused on anti-ICE, today includes chants supporting trans youth, federal workers, and the rule of law.

Folk bands played protest songs on fiddles and many people brought homemade crowns with a slash through them, following the “No Kings” theme of the national protest.

Speakers included Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, MLK Labor, and employees at federal agencies defending their work under Trump's reshaping of the government workforce.

Some protestors this week have started dumpster fires and got arrested by Seattle Police. But the large Saturday crowd was peaceful, though loud with chants decrying fascism, capitalism, and political violence.

This rally was teed off by protests in Los Angeles this week in response to aggressive federal immigration arrests at workplaces.

Seattle's protest is one of at least 1,800 demonstrations scheduled Saturday across the country.

After about an hour of speeches and chants, the large group marched through the streets of Capitol Hill and to Seattle Center.

Correction notice, 1:29 on Friday, 6/20/2025: This story was updated to clarify that the federal employees spoke in support of the agencies they work for. A previous version stated these employees had been fired.