An estimated crowd of 15,000 gathered outside Houston City Hall on Saturday for a demonstration against President Donald Trump and his policies. Similar protests were held around the region.

With No Kings protests planned Saturday in the Houston area, local organizers are calling for peaceful rallies, while officials like Mayor John Whitmire say they are working with organizers "to ensure that First Amendment rights are respected while maintaining public safety.

Demonstrations in McAllen, Midland, Odessa, Austin and elsewhere in Texas were largely peaceful, as some protests went well into the night.

Thousands gathered at Houston City Hall for a lively protest early Saturday, cheering as local speakers decried President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Police officers in protective gear ringed parts of a subdued but attentive crowd.

It’s being billed as a “nationwide day of defiance,” and the rejection of authoritarianism, but organizers say a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration, set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Houston City Hall,

That’s part of why George Atkinson, a former high school government teacher, felt compelled to join a protest in downtown Houston on Saturday. The 89-year-old affixed a sign to his walker that read, “The clothes have no emperor! He’s all hat and no cattle!”

The anti-Trump protests in Austin remained peaceful, despite a "credible threat" that forced a brief evacuation of the Texas Capitol complex.