Nationwide ‘No Kings’ Rallies Kick Off With Flagship Protest in Minnesota

(The Epoch Times)—More than 3,100 ‘No Kings’ protests opposing President Donald Trump are happening across the nation on Saturday.

This time—the third such gathering since Trump took office as the 47th president—Minnesota will serve as the movement’s flagship. In that state earlier this year, clashes between federal immigration officials and opponents escalated and turned deadly.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he plans to attend the featured event in the state capital, St. Paul, where music artist Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to perform.

The singer released a song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” in late January to decry the deaths of Minnesotans Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by officers in separate confrontations during Minneapolis immigration enforcement operations.

Walz, in a March 26 interview with MS NOW, said his state is still reeling.

“We will never forget what happened here and we’re taking action against it,” Walz said. “And I think you’ll see it very visibly in the No Kings rallies.”

The Democratic governor said “Minneapolis and Minnesota provided the template for pushing back” against the Republican president’s agenda.

Organizers have said they expect upwards of 100,000 attendees in St. Paul for this installment of the No Kings protests. Last June, a “No Kings” event drew about 80,000 people to the capital. The demonstrations were also held across the nation in October. Millions participated each time, coordinators said.

In the past, organizations such as the Communist Party USA have participated.

“What began in June as a single day of defiance has become a sustained national resistance to tyranny,” the No Kings website says, “spreading from small towns to city centers and across every community determined to defend democracy.”

The group’s list of grievances ranges from immigration enforcement to airstrikes on Iran, and the group accuses Trump of acting like a monarch who “thinks his rule is absolute.”

The White House said the protests stem from “leftist funding networks” with little genuine support.

“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement released to multiple media outlets.

A historian who spoke to The Epoch Times sees such protests as largely organic and consequential, but a legal commentator disagrees on both of those counts.

Manisha Sinha, American History chair at the University of Connecticut, said she believes the last two No Kings protests were among the largest protests in U.S. history.

“I’m not sure what the turnout will be on March 28 but certainly their last two attempts have been extremely successful and were nationwide, in big cities as well as small towns and hamlets,” Sinha said.

The sheer size of participation suggests the movement is authentic, she said.

Sinha said she senses that the protests serve as an outlet for people to make their voices heard at a time when they feel frustrated. “They see no checks and balances being implemented against Trump’s wishes and whims,” she said.

“So, I think it is extremely significant to see these enormous protests. We can see that they tend to have an impact, as we saw in the city of Minneapolis, even though … it cost the lives of two American citizens,” Sinha said.

Andrellos Mitchell, a Washington attorney and legal commentator, interprets the situation differently.

Mitchell, who describes himself as a “lifelong independent voter” who has cast ballots for candidates of all political stripes, calls the protests “not particularly effective.”

“They largely amount to the choir preaching to the choir,“ he told The Epoch Times, ”rather than persuading undecided voters or influencing policy outcomes.”

Mitchell also said funders of such movements typically come from “established left-leaning networks” of media figures, actors, entertainers and other influential people.

“The driving force is opposition to President Trump rather than a clearly defined, forward-looking agenda,” he said.

“As for significance, I don’t see this movement as having lasting impact. The American people already rendered a decision through the election,” Mitchell said. “The protests don’t change that reality, and they don’t offer an alternative program that resonates broadly.”

However, Mitchell does expect that the demonstrations will continue throughout Trump’s second presidency.

“I do not see them evolving into a sustained movement beyond that,” he said, adding, “This appears more like political theater than a durable political force.”