Minnesota to host 'No Kings' flagship rally, headlining Springsteen amid
tensions over ICE and war
[March 27, 2026]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota will be the flagship of the “No Kings”
protest movement Saturday when Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of
Minneapolis” in a state where emotions are still raw over President
Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and the deaths of two residents
shot by federal officers.
More than 3,100 events are being organized in communities large and
small across all 50 states, with more than 9 million people expected to
participate. A growing number of them will be in suburbs, which are
increasingly on the front lines of resistance against Trump.
Organizers have designated the Minnesota rally, at the State Capitol in
St. Paul, as Saturday’s flagship event. They've told a state oversight
agency that 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol complex, where
last June’s event drew an estimated 80,000 people.
The movement is spreading around the world, said Ezra Levin, a cofounder
of Indivisible, the activist group spearheading the events. Rallies are
also planned in more than a dozen other countries, he said in an
interview, including Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom,
France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands,
Ireland, Sweden, Mexico and Australia. In counties with constitutional
monarchies, he said, they call the protests “No Tyrants.”
Besides Springsteen, the St. Paul rally will also feature singer Joan
Baez and actor Jane Fonda, who've been noted for their activism since
the Vietnam War era, and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a hero of the
progressive movement, along with a long list of other national and local
activists, labor leaders and elected officials.
Levin said the national organizers chose Minnesota because it was
subject to “some of the most horrific, sadistic behavior you can
imagine" from the Trump administration.
“At the same time, in the Twin Cities earlier this year, we saw some of
the most inspiring, neighborly, brave organizing that we've seen
anywhere in the country, and it serves as an inspiration to all of us,”
Levin added.
This will be the third round of “No Kings” protests, which often have a
street festival vibe. They're organized by a broad coalition of groups
opposed to what they call authoritarianism under Trump, and his attempts
to consolidate and expand his power. Organizers say more than 5 million
people took to the streets at more than 2,100 events last June, followed
by more than 7 million people at more than 2,700 events last October.
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A message promoting an upcoming "No Kings" protest is projected on
the National Gallery of Art, with the U.S. Capitol seen in the
background, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia
Demaree Nikhinson)
Organizers announced Saturday's protests in January, shortly after
the killings in Minneapolis of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Plans had
already been in the works, but their deaths during the surge of
around 3,000 federal officers into Minnesota provided a new focus.
Opposition to the war in Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched
with airstrikes on Feb. 28, is expected to draw even more people to
the protests, Levin said.
Trump reacted to previous “No Kings” rallies by insisting “I’m not a
king” and saying attendees were “not representative of the people of
our country.”
Springsteen came to Minnesota soon after composing “Streets of
Minneapolis” to honor Good, Pretti and other residents for their
courage in standing up against the federal crackdown. He first
performed it live at a fundraiser at the iconic First Avenue
nightclub. He's sure to sing it at the Capitol on Saturday, and
again Tuesday night at the city's Target Center when he and the E
Street kick off their Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour.
Springsteen has long feuded with Trump, who has called the New
Jersey rock icon “overrated.”
The tour logo includes the “No Kings” slogan. Springsteen has said
they're coming in defense of “American democracy, American freedom,
our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of
which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue
government.”
“The No Kings movement is of great import right now," Springsteen
told the Minnesota Star Tribune ahead of the rally. "When you have
the opportunity to sing something where the timing is essential and
if you have something powerful to sing, it elevates the moment, it
elevates your job to another level.”
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