Fresno law enforcement ready for ‘No Kings Day’ protests, confident they stay peaceful

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Flag Day 2025 will be unlike any other, as it also marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday.

However, coinciding with the occasion is a military parade honoring the Army’s anniversary, one costing between $25 million and $45 million.

In response, nearly 2,000 ‘No Kings Day’ protests are set to take place around the country, as organizers call out the administration for what they say is instead a ‘costly’ and ‘un-American birthday parade’ for Trump.

Multiple of those protests are set to take place around the Central Valley, in cities like Visalia, Merced, Hanford, and Fresno.

To stay ahead, local law enforcement has already been preparing for some time to ensure everyone in attendance, or living in the area, stays safe.

“We’ve been preparing for this for probably about a week. We do a lot of these. This isn’t something that’s new to us. This is, you know, we’ve been doing this for years,” said Sgt. Mark Van Wyhe with Fresno Police’s Special Events Unit.

YourCentralValley.com attempted to reach out to organizers, but didn’t hear back.

However, Sgt. Van Wyhe says his team has already sat down with them about protests set to happen at River Park and Cary Park to discuss the best and safest ways to express their free speech.

“It’s really nice when you meet with the organizers and you know them by name and they know us and we talk on the phone tomorrow morning, we’ll probably have another conversation and make sure we’re all on the same page,” he told us.

Based on the city’s track record, police are confident both they and protesters will keep things under control. That belief extends to local government.

“I have total confidence in our law enforcement that they’ll make sure everything is safe and done peacefully,” said Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld, who represents District 2, where the protests will occur. “I think, again, our citizens have always done it peacefully. I expect it’ll be the same way tomorrow, and that’s the expectation everybody has.”