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More than 3,000 No Kings protests against the Trump administration were held nationwide and in more than a dozen countries on Saturday, according to a coalition of organizers that includes “anti-authoritarian” groups Indivisible and 50501, labor unions and other grassroots organizations.

“I would expect March 28 to be the biggest protest in American history,” Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, said ahead of the protests.

Saturday’s protest is the third No Kings; the last one in October drew 7 million people nationwide.

At the “flagship” event in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St Paul, organizers estimate around 200,000 people filled the streets around the state capitol to commiserate, mourn and speak out against the Trump administration.

Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator, riled up the crowd with remarks about the role of the ultra-rich in politics. Bruce Springsteen sang his song about the death and destruction brought by ICE to the state, Streets of Minneapolis, leading the crowd in chants of “Ice out now!”

The state’s governor, Tim Walz, introduced Springsteen, saying it was clear America needed “no damn kings” but it needed the Boss. Walz commended the state’s people for standing up for each other and for immigrants when Trump sent in thousands of federal agents, who killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Their names were featured heavily in No Kings protest signs in the city. Jane Fonda even read a statement from Good’s wife, Brenda.

In New York City, multiple No Kings contingents merged through Times Square, as well as the outer boroughs. Minutes before the main march was set to take off from Central Park, the state’s attorney general, Letitia James; the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams; actor Robert DeNiro; the Rev Al Sharpton; and Padma Lakshmi filed into the front of the crowd holding hand-painted banners that read: “We protect our democracy – people over billionaires – we protect our neighbors.”

Families carried LGBTQ+ pride and Palestinian flags, while other marchers held pun-heavy signs and handed out whistles in New York. Many signs and chants included anti-ICE, anti-Trump and pro-LGBTQ+ rights messaging. But perhaps the most consistent theme was anti-war. “This war has to stop,” said MB, 55, a Queens resident who didn’t want to use their full name for safety reasons. “American people do not want what this administration is doing. We don’t want it. We need healthcare, we need jobs. We need infrastructure.”

In Washington DC, one protest group, made up of about a dozen Palestinian mothers, stood at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and waved a 10ft-tall Palestinian flag. “Most Americans don’t know that our tax dollars are being used to subsidize violence,” Hazami Barmada, 42, said. “This is happening while many Americans can’t afford housing, milk, school or healthcare. Prices continue to go up as we are fighting Israel’s wars.”

Other protesters, led by local activist organizations including Free DC, gathered at the Frederick Douglass Bridge in south-east Washington DC. The crowd marched across the bridge to Fort McNair in Southwest DC, where the White House senior adviser Stephen Miller resides.

In downtown Chicago, protestors chanted “Trump must go now, fascists gotta go now” and “Ice out” as they filed into Grant Park. Chicago’s mayor, Brandon Johnson, addressed the crowd of thousands: “Look around, our movement is bigger, our resolve is bigger.”

Other speakers at Chicago’s rally discussed labor rights and keeping immigrant and trans communities safe. “When we build a world that protects trans people, we build a world that’s better for everyone,” said Iggy Ladden, the founder of the Chicago Therapy Collective.

More than two-thirds of participants who RSVP’d for No Kings events were “outside of major urban centers”, including Republican-controlled areas and bellwether counties, said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, at a press conference on Thursday.

On Saturday, hundreds also showed up in deep-red cities such as Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Midland, Texas; and Boise, Idaho, holding signs to protest against Trump and the war in Iran. Crowds also protested around the globe in Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Sydney, Australia.

A multiplicity of stressors drew protesters across issues, organizers said, from ICE raids to voting rights threats. “Since the last No Kings, we’re seeing higher gas prices and groceries, all while there’s an illegal war in Iran,” said Sarah Parker, the executive director of Voices of Florida and a national coordinator for the 50501 movement. “The people of America are pissed.”

Counterprotesters also showed up at rallies, including in West Palm Beach, Florida, CNN reported. About 50 pro-Trump demonstrators with megaphones and “Proud Boys” hats argued with No Kings protesters, according to the outlet.

The No Kings coalition had repeatedly emphasized the “nonviolent” nature of the day of action. Parker noted ahead of the protests that leaders were being trained in de-escalation. The No Kings website states that participants were not allowed to bring any weapons, including legally permitted ones. During the first No Kings Day in June, one Salt Lake City protester was killed and another was injured by a local 50501 “peacekeeper” volunteer who saw the latter carrying a firearm, even though doing so is legal under Utah law.

The White House and Republican leadership denounced Saturday’s No Kings day events as “Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions”. In a statement, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the demonstrations were created by “leftist funding networks” and that “only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them.”

The Trump administration has targeted and federally prosecuted anti-ICE protesters – earlier this month, nine people were found guilty of charges of “antifa” terrorism in a Texas trial over a Fourth of July demonstration outside a detention facility. In January, Minneapolis residents Good and Pretti were killed by federal immigration agents as they were documenting the agents’ activities.

During the press conference on Thursday, organizers were asked about reports of ICE agents putting boots on the ground at the protests – placing a higher level of risk for undocumented and other marginalized protesters. (Last year, journalist Mario Guevara was detained and ultimately deported after livestreaming the June No Kings protest.) Deirdre Schifeling, American Civil Liberties Union’s chief political and advocacy officer, advised that any threats of ICE presence were an intimidation tactic and directed attenders to the “know your rights” materials on the ACLU’s site.

Organizers have repeatedly emphasized that No Kings Day is only one aspect of broader efforts toward building people power and fighting the Trump administration – and that that work “doesn’t end after March 28”.

“Our third No Kings Day of Action will happen on Saturday, and Trump will still be in the White House,” said Greenberg. “That is why we see No Kings as not only a powerful day of defiance but an organizing catalyst to support local organizing everywhere.”