NEW YORK, April 20, (AP): Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the US on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals. The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of "the shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, marking the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.

Thomas Bassford was among the demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside Boston. The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believes Americans are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it. "This is a very perilous time in America for liberty,” said Bassford, who was with his partner, daughter and two grandsons.

"I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.” In Denver, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol with banners expressing solidarity with immigrants and telling the Trump administration: "Hands Off!” People waved US flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress. Thousands of people also marched through downtown Portland, Oregon, while in San Francisco, hundreds spelled out the words "Impeach & Remove” on a sandy beach along the Pacific Ocean, also with an inverted US flag.

People walked through downtown Anchorage, Alaska, with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that one that read: "No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!” Elsewhere protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community service-oriented events such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.

The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations. Organizers say they oppose what they call Trump’s civil rights violations and constitutional violations, including efforts to deport scores of immigrants and to scale back the federal government by firing thousands of government workers and effectively shuttering entire agencies.