Protesters pack parks, sidewalks and streets at ‘No Kings’ rallies in Minnesota

Minnesotans rallied to demonstrate against President Donald Trump and his administration at dozens of sites across the state Saturday, packing parks, sidewalks and street corners as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protest movement.

Their objections ranged from ongoing ICE raids to the federal government shutdown, from Medicaid cuts and the treatment of immigrants to the deployment of National Guard units to major U.S. cities. They chanted, cheered and waved American flags as passing carshonked in support.

“It will get worse before it gets better,” said Jason Yorek of St. Louis Park, who joined a large rally near Hwy. 100. “But things like this plant seeds of hope. It’s a good reminder that there are tons of people that believe this current president and his administration do not represent what they stand for.”

Minnesota GOP Chair Alex Plechash denounced the rallies in a statement issued the day before they were held, calling them “a prepackaged Washington playbook imported to insult Minnesota voters.”

“They say ‘No Kings,’” Plechash said, “but they’re bankrolling a kingdom of radicals, bureaucrats, and unelected elites.”

There were no reports of organized counterprotests, and only a few individuals were spotted at the rallies in apparent opposition.

In downtown Minneapolis, music echoed as a crowd jammed Commons Park near U.S. Bank Stadium, where attendees beat drums, chanted and marched in the area. They waved signs reading “No Kings, No Lies” and “Are we great again yet?” in apparent reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

At the park, Attorney General Keith Ellison led a moment of silence for the victims of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting in August and for former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were killed in a politically motivated attack in June.

“We’ve got a violence crisis. An oligarch crisis,” Ellison told the crowd. “Oligarchs who at no point slow down in their ravenous pursuit for more, more, more.

“All they ever got for me and for you are thoughts and prayers. But I’m thinking and I’m praying for no kings.”

The Rev. Jim Erlandson, pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in St. Paul, said he joined the Minneapolis protest “as a citizen and a man of faith.”

“Do not put your trust in princes,” Erlandson said, quoting Scripture. “As people of faith, we reject the twisting of Christian faith and the words of Jesus.”

“The way things are being painted in the media, they just won’t understand,” she said. “So we need to show how to make change and how to make a voice heard.”

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith told the crowd in Commons Park that Trump “is not as strong as he wants you to believe. The strength of this country is right here in downtown Minneapolis.”

In Golden Valley, protesters lined up along Hwy. 55, and in St. Louis Park they formed a line more than a mile long in front of some of the city’s busiest shopping centers, at times spilling into the street.

Amber Miller, who went to the rally with her friends, said they felt it was their duty.

“They want to divide us,” she said. “They want to say that we’re alone. And we have to show that we’re not.”

Chad Claypool, a union member from St. Cloud, said he thought the turnout was “amazing,” considering that Stearns County typically leans conservative.

“I think it’s a sea change,” he said. “Tides are changing against authoritarianism.”

Hundreds gathered near downtown Rochester, some of them wearing masks or helmets to prevent them from being identified and vulnerable to retaliation, they said. Others wore costumes ranging from video game characters to outfits from the TV series and novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” signaling concerns over women’s rights.

Rochester residents Mary Kirk, 74, and Bernard Kirk, 76, said they blame the administration’s Medicaid cuts for recently losing their insurance due to rising costs. They also took issue with ICE agents wearing masks and deployment of the National Guard in major cities. “What he’s doing is disgusting,” Bernard Kirk said of Trump.

“I’m just tired of seeing the corruption,” said Paul Damm, 34, of Rochester. He held up a sign reading “Our vote, our voice” as he marched in downtown Rochester along Broadway Avenue.

“You read about this stuff all through history, you see all these patterns,” Biren said. “You see it happening again and again, and you’re seeing it now.”