Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is deploying the state’s National Guard to Austin ahead of this weekend’s planned No Kings rally in the Texas capital, he announced Thursday, as top Republicans around the country vilify the protests as Antifa-linked and led by the radical flank of the Democratic Party.

“Violence and destruction will never be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott said in a statement Thursday. “Today, I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard to deploy all necessary law enforcement officials and resources to ensure the safety of Austin residents.”

In addition to the National Guard, Abbott is surging Texas Rangers, state troopers and Department of Public Safety personnel to Austin, whom he said would be “supported by aircraft and other tactical assets.”

His announcement was sharply criticized by Democrats. “Sending armed soldiers to suppress peaceful protests is what kings and dictators do — and Greg Abbott just proved he’s one of them,” Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement.

More than 2,600 No Kings protests are set to occur across the country on Saturday, according to organizers, including on the National Mall in Washington and in Austin. Its organizers include the ACLU, College Democrats of America and the campaign finance group End Citizens United. The first wave of No Kings protests in June was overwhelmingly peaceful and went on almost entirely without incident.

Abbott’s deployments come as Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, decry the planned protests as “hate America” gatherings, involving radical “pro-Hamas” elements, that have pressured otherwise amenable Senate Democrats to refrain from signing onto Republicans’ continuing resolution to end the government shutdown.

Democrats, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who is set to speak at Saturday’s D.C. rally, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized the Republican rhetoric and encouraged disaffected Americans to attend the rallies.

“In two days, be a part of the largest peaceful protest in modern American history,” Clinton wrote on X. “Join No Kings this Saturday at an event near you to push back on Trump’s power grabs and make it clear—we don’t do monarchs here.”

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