ALBUQUERQUE — Jasmin Juarez-Rivera donned a University of New Mexico graduation cap and held a sign that read, “My grandpa defended this country (U.S. Air Force); my dad helped build it (construction worker); I’m here to protect what they gave us!”

Juarez-Rivera’s father is an immigrant who came to the U.S. when he was 18 and has worked in manual labor and construction his whole life, she said. Her grandfather was in the Air Force for 30 years and she herself is a first-generation high school and college graduate, she said.

“I’m here to represent their hard work and all their sacrifices,” Juarez-Rivera said. “… Just here trying to make the world a better place so this doesn’t have to happen and so our military can be safe.”

Juarez-Rivera was one of at least 8,000 people who braved triple-digit temperatures to gather in Mariposa Basin Park for Saturday’s “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump.

The protests coincide with a military parade Trump is holding in Washington on Saturday — which is his birthday — to mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and Flag Day. It also comes less than a week after Trump sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles in response to protests against immigration arrests there.

A demonstrator at Albuquerque’s “No Kings” protest Saturday holds an upside-down American flag, a common symbol of distress.

Protesters carried American flags — including upside-down ones, commonly meant as a symbol of distress — and wore gold paper crowns. They held signs with anti-Trump and anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement messages and chanted “Oppose the POTUS parade.” Some played drums and passed out water.

Speakers included U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, both Democrats, as well as community members and organizers from groups such as the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and Food & Water Watch.

Stansbury led the crowd in a chant of “This is our country; there are no kings.”

Stansbury discussed historical protest movements, saying Saturday’s protesters walked in the footsteps of their predecessors. She also said Democrats must win back control of the House of Representatives, which currently has a narrow Republican majority.

“It’s our House, the people’s House, and we will not let them take our democracy or our freedom,” Stansbury said.

Keller said ICE agents have been knocking on doors without warrants in the South Valley. He also denounced the June 4 ICE raid at a dairy farm in Lovington where 11 workers were arrested.

“That is not law enforcement, that is terror — that is exactly what that is,” Keller said. “This is what happens when someone wants to rule, not to lead.”

A protester at Albuquerque’s “No Kings” protest at Mariposa Basin Park Saturday holds a sign that reads, “The crown fell in 1776, why are we still bowing??!”

Sandra Stulberg — a volunteer with Indivisible Albuquerque, one of the groups that helped to organize the protest — said the event drew between 8,000 and 13,000 attendees. Stulberg said she was inspired to participate in the event because she felt alarmed by Trump’s actions in office, describing it as a “power grab.”

“I believe in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and all of those things are under threat right now,” Stulberg said.

Jennifer Penner attended the event with her husband and their 10-year-old daughter. Penner said it was their first protest.

“We know that this is going to be a marathon, and we want to be a part of it. We want our voices heard,” she said. “I was telling my daughter on our way here that it’s our duty to come out here and exercise our First Amendment right.”

Penner and her husband decided to bring their daughter to the event because they love America and what it stands for, and they want her to know that everyone’s voices make America great.

“I want her to see that when there was a time that we needed to stand up, that we did,” Penner said.