Influx Magazine

Zack Lindstrom, 19, who is studying political science at the University of Minnesota, said he was moved to tears hearing Springsteen sing about Minneapolis.

“For a lot of us, we haven’t had the time to really think about what the hell we’ve actually done,” said Lindstrom. “I think the most important thing is that we’re not alone.” 

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered outside the Minnesota State Capitol Building in St. Paul during the sunny final Saturday of March as part of the nationwide “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration. 

St. Paul was deemed the flagship location for more than 3,000 events held across the country, after dramatic scenes from Operation Metro Surge and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti drew the eyes to the Twin Cities in the early months of the year. The weather was a sunny 50 degrees for this protest on March 28, but it would have made no difference to Minnesotans. Just two months prior, protesters showed up in droves to demonstrate against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in frigid temperatures as low as 20 below zero. 

While the Minnesota state patrol estimated the number of people in attendance to be 100,000, event organizers believe it could be close to double that, which would make it the largest in state history. 

Susan Stokes, a lawyer in St. Paul, reflected on the crowd’s resilient attitude. “We just have to keep showing up, and standing up, and you know, we learned this winter that it’s going to get harder and harder,” Stokes said. “So today is a good day when we can stand together to sort of collect ourselves for the next round.” 

Faced with what the federal government called the largest immigration enforcement action in U.S. history, Twin Cities residents created a hostile environment for ICE agents in January and February, eventually forcing the operation to pull back. Some of Minnesota’s nonviolent resistance strategies included arming themselves with ubiquitous whistles to alert neighbors to the presence of agents, and working with small businesses and organizations to supply food to people too afraid to leave their homes. 

But the “No Kings” rally expressed a long list of grievances against the Trump administration, far beyond Operation Metro Surge. Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was another widely anticipated speaker, and his lengthy speech covered everything from the risks of allowing billionaires to run free with their wealth, to the importance of fighting for democracy in dark times. 

In the crowd, children, grandparents, war veterans and people from every other walk of life hoisted their signs, many bearing the recently popularized rebel loon symbol, and collectively voiced their defiance.