“The most threatening sound to an oligarch is laughter.”

Thousands gathered in Daley Plaza and in suburban events in protests timed to coincide with a military parade in Washington celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.

Protesters across Southern California and the country took to the streets for ‘No Kings’ demonstrations against President Trump and the $45-million celebration of the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, which coincides with Trump’s 79th.

The parade, honoring the Army’s long-planned 250th anniversary celebration and coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday, is set to step off from the Lincoln Memorial under the threat of stormy weather in Washington and protests around the country tied to a turbulent week of immigration enforcement that has involved military deployment in Los Angeles.

The parade was the spectacle event Trump had long wanted. It also helped sparked the largest mass opposition to him since his inauguration 145 days earlier.

Thousands of people visited the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to see the rare spectacle of military hardware and soldiers filing down American streets.

The Houston demonstration is one of several planned in the region throughout the day and is expected to draw thousands of protesters.

At least one demonstration, about 70 miles from Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia, was met with violence when a man intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person,