Demonstrators protest Trump-backed redistricting plans at over 200 events across the country

Demonstrators protest against the recently introduced redistricting legislation during an emergency march and picket rally outside of the Governor's Mansion on August 4, in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/File via CNN Newsource)

(CNN) — At parks, coffee shops, churches and government buildings around the country, hundreds of people are gathering today with a simple message: “Stop the Trump takeover.”

The rallies are a bid to combat Republican-led plans to redraw congressional maps. The main event will take place in Texas, where a new congressional map backed by U.S. President Donald Trump that could net Republicans five additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections inspired the state’s Democratic lawmakers to flee the state – preventing the quorum needed to vote.

“Trump is terrified of the American people,” said the Texas for All Coalition, which is helping organize the events, in a news release. “He knows he can’t win on his ideas, so he’s trying to take Congress by hook or by crook – and he’s doing it by silencing the voices of communities of colour. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Organizers emphasized “a commitment to nonviolence” at all events in event page descriptions.

Over 200 events are planned in 34 states, according to the event’s official website. The Democratic National Committee is helping organize events, it announced in a news release.

“From coast to coast, people will be showing up at their statehouses, city halls, and community spaces to make it clear – we see what Trump is doing, and we won’t stand for it,” said the DNC.

A swath of non-profits and other organizations are also supporting the effort, including Planned Parenthood, the Working Families Party and Human Rights Campaign.

Trump described the proposed Texas congressional map as a “very simple redrawing” at the White House. “We pick up five seats,” he added.

But it doesn’t end with Texas. Republican leaders in other states, too, have proposed changing their congressional maps ahead of next year’s midterms.

The White House is pushing Missouri legislators to consider a special session to redraw maps. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has floated the idea of changing his state’s maps, and has said he thinks the Trump administration should give the state another seat. In Ohio, maps must be redrawn due to a quirk of state law – which may make the state’s delegation even more Republican and carve up two Democratic seats, according to a report in June from CNN’s Fredreka Schouten.

Democratic lawmakers have announced their own plans to fight back, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who kicked off his own redistricting push on Thursday.

Here’s more on what we know about Saturday’s protests.

Austin, Texas, rally

Today’s largest protest is taking place in Austin, Texas. Over 1,000 people RSVPed for the event, which started at the state’s Capitol.

“Texas is being used as a testing ground for extremist policies and partisan games that don’t reflect our values,” reads the event page. “Thousands of Texans have shown up against the racially gerrymandered congressional map lawmakers are trying to force through in order to weaken the voting power of communities of colour.”

Demonstrators filled the area outside the Capitol, waving signs with messages including “Abbott’s letting Trump take over Texas,” “Put Texans first,” and “Compassion over cruelty.” Organizers led chants of “Show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like” and “Sí se puede” – the motto of the United Farm Workers, which translates to “Yes, you can.”

The demonstration, which began Saturday morning, has included a performance from drag queen Brigitte Bandit and speeches from former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, as well as local activists.

“The danger we’re facing is so much bigger than any one of us,” Casar said. “This is about the state of our country, and we’re in really hard times here in America right now.”

The congressman criticized Trump’s ongoing deportation campaign and said that he had been prevented from visiting an immigration detention centre.

“Here in Austin, Texas, we’re a shining light,” Casar said of the protest. “Authoritarianism is what we’re facing. And when you feel that pit in your stomach, that despair, and when you ask, ‘What can I even do?’ You are showing people what we do.”

Doggett said the president is deploying National Guard troops “not because of crime or immigrants.”

“It’s because he envisions a day when he will use that military against us,” the lawmaker said.

“We don’t need the National Guard on our streets,” Doggett said. “We need national guard rails on a lawless president.”

O’Rourke said the Republican push for redistricting is because Republicans fear “accountability for their crimes and corruption.”

“They will do everything they can to seek to stop us, including trying to divide us,” he said. “I am afraid that the consolidation of authoritarian power in the hands of this president will be nearly unstoppable.”

Met with raucous applause, O’Rourke also called for “a free, independent, sovereign Palestinian state” and for Texas women to be able to “make their own decisions about their own bodies.”

“So we must stand together, and we must stand in front,” he went on. “It’s up to you and me to show them that in Texas, our knees do not bend.”

Huerta, who is 95, urged attendees to organize politically and fight the redistricting push.

“When we organize, we win,” she said. She ended her speech with a chant of “Who’s got the power? We do.”

Across Texas, events are also happening in Houston, Dallas, San Angelo, Tyler, McAllen, Conroe and Kingwood.

Nationwide demonstrations

Events and rallies are also scheduled in dozens of other states, both in Democratic strongholds and Republican-majority states. Local organizers planned each city-specific event.

In New York City, demonstrators are expected to gather in Central Park. In Washington, DC, where Trump has deployed the National Guard and declared a federal takeover of the local police department, organizers are painting banners and signs to place around the city.

Protesters in Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, plan to hold a “bridge brigade,” holding signs on 16 different bridges.

Demonstrations are also planned in Cincinnati, Ohio; Sarasota, Florida; and Jefferson City, Missouri, among other cities. The planned events include rallies, teach-ins, banner drops and art-making at locations that include a bookstore in Jacksonville, Florida, and a Tesla showroom in Palo Alto, California.

The demonstrations follow a string of other protests organized since Trump took office for the second time in January, including the “No Kings” protests in June and demonstrations against the president’s deportation campaign in July.

Drucilla Tigner, the executive director of statewide coalition Texas For All, said in a news release that the fight extends far past Texas.

“Across Texas, and across the country, communities are speaking out in a united voice to call for an end to the Trump takeover,” she said. “Though this fight started in Texas, it doesn’t end here. This isn’t just about redistricting or one state’s politics.”

“It’s about the future of our democracy.”