Minnesota will host the “No Kings” movement’s flagship rally on Saturday at the state Capitol in St. Paul, with Bruce Springsteen scheduled to perform “Streets of Minneapolis,” according to organizers and the movement’s planning materials cited in reports. The event is taking shape in a state where emotions remain raw amid protests tied to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and the deaths of two Minnesota residents shot by federal officers, organizers said.
Organizers designated the St. Paul rally as the flagship event of a larger protest push planned across the U.S., saying they have organized more than 3,100 events in communities large and small across all 50 states. They also said more than 9 million people are expected to participate, with an emphasis on suburban locations where residents have increasingly become part of resistance efforts, according to the reporting.
The group’s planning includes a crowd estimate submitted to a state oversight agency: organizers said as many as 100,000 people could converge on the Capitol complex. They pointed to last June’s event as a reference point, saying an estimated 80,000 people attended it, and they said the coming rally will also mark the third round of “No Kings” demonstrations.
Ezra Levin, a cofounder of Indivisible and one of the activist leaders associated with spearheading the events, said organizers chose Minnesota because it has been subject to what he described as extreme conduct from the Trump administration. Levin also contrasted that with what organizers said they saw earlier in the year in the Twin Cities—neighborly, organizing efforts he described as among the most inspiring in the country.
In addition to Springsteen, organizers said the St. Paul rally will feature performances and appearances by singer Joan Baez and actor Jane Fonda, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other national and local activists. The organizers framed the “No Kings” demonstrations as part of a broader coalition opposed to what they describe as authoritarianism under Trump and attempts to consolidate and expand his power.
The movement has announced the Saturday protests as part of a developing campaign that it said was planned earlier but gained a new focus after killings in Minneapolis in January of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Organizers said the deaths of Good and Pretti during a surge of around 3,000 federal officers into Minnesota helped refocus the protests, which they have continued to present as a response to immigration enforcement.
Organizers also said the planned protests are spreading beyond the U.S. and are planned in more than a dozen other countries, with Levin describing rallies in places including Canada, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, among others. In countries with constitutional monarchies, Levin said protesters use the “No Tyrants” label for what he said are similar demonstrations.
The White House dismissed the planned protests as the product of “leftist funding networks” with little real public support, according to a statement cited by the reporting. The statement included an additional line from White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson that said: “The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them.”
Trump, the report said, has reacted to previous “No Kings” rallies by saying “I’m not a king” and arguing that attendees were “not representative of the people of our country.” The reporting also said Springsteen has long feuded with Trump, and that his preparation for the weekend is tied to composing “Streets of Minneapolis” to honor Good, Pretti and other residents for what the singer has described as their courage in standing up against the federal crackdown.
The reporting said Springsteen is expected to sing at the state Capitol on Saturday and again Tuesday night at the Target Center, starting the Land of Hope & Dreams American Tour with the E Street band. It said the tour’s logo includes the “No Kings” slogan and that Springsteen told the Minnesota Star Tribune ahead of the rally that “The No Kings movement is of great import right now,” adding: “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.”