Next ‘No Kings’ Protests Scheduled For March 28, With 'Flagship' Event in Minneapolis

As protests against President Donald Trump ripple across the country, the progressive coalition behind the sprawling “No Kings” demonstrations is planning a return to the streets in two months. After drawing massive crowds in cities across the country twice last year, organizers with Indivisible tell TIME that a third “No Kings” day of protest is scheduled for March 28, with the flagship event to be in Minneapolis, which has become a national symbol for opposition to Trump’s immigration crackdown in the wake of the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents. The federal response in Minnesota is partly why the next “No Kings” protest is not for another two months, and will look markedly different from the last two—not in message, but in an unprecedented level of preparation for safety and security, organizers say.  “We cannot respond to the fact that they are willing to be lawless and violent by being unwilling to go out in the streets ourselves,” says Leah Greenberg, Indivisible’s co-founder. “We actually have to consistently hold our ground.” The protests come after a year in which millions of Americans joined nonviolent demonstrations opposing what they view as the Trump Administration’s accelerating authoritarianism, from mass immigration raids to threats to invoke the Insurrection Act. While late March may seem like a long time away amid the ongoing backlash over federal tactics in Minnesota, organizers say the weeks-long buildup reflects a deliberate shift toward sustained organizing and protection for demonstrators rather than rapid mobilization alone. The “No Kings” coalition said it has activated an ongoing nationwide digital organizing campaign leading up to March 28, framing the protests as a continuation of what began last year: a movement to assert that political power in the United States belongs to its people, “not to kings.” Greenberg tells TIME that opposition to Trump has only intensified since the coalition’s last major mobilization in October, when millions participated in what organizers described as one of the largest single days of protest in American history. “We are very confident, based on what we are seeing around the country, that the opposition to Donald Trump has only grown since October,” says Greenberg. But she acknowledged that the environment for protest has changed in fundamental ways. Since December, nearly 3,000 federal immigration agents have been deployed to Minnesota, where protests have grown in the wake of the killings of Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers this month. She pointed to Minnesota as emblematic of that shift. “Everyday people are appalled by the cruelty, by the dictatorial instincts, by the attacks on their communities, by the attacks on their neighbors,” she says, adding that residents were now organizing “to protect their communities and to collectively defy this administration’s white nationalist ambitions.” The Administration has responded to the unrest by threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used law that would allow the President to deploy the military domestically. Civil liberties groups say such a move would stretch presidential authority well beyond its intended limits, and courts have previously blocked efforts by Trump to deploy the military to Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago. Against that backdrop, Indivisible and its partners say the March protests are ramping up its emphasis on security and discipline. Greenberg says the coalition is building “real security and support infrastructure” for local organizers, including formal de-escalation trainings and closer coordination with legal observers and community groups. This week, the “No Kings” coalition launched a nationwide “Eyes on ICE” training program, a virtual initiative designed to teach people how to exercise their rights and safely monitor federal enforcement actions. The first session drew more than 200,000 viewers, according to organizers, and additional trainings are being scheduled for the weeks leading up to the protests, including another on Feb. 5. Despite the escalating federal response to protests, Greenberg says she does not believe fear will deter participation. After Good was killed, she noted, more than 1,200 vigils were organized nationwide within 48 hours. That pattern has held through much of Trump’s second term. While Republican leaders dismissed the “No Kings” rallies last year as “Hate America” protests and accused demonstrators of being communists and anarchists, the national protests have remained overwhelmingly peaceful. Greenberg said those attacks backfired. “What we’ve seen is that people are responding to the federal government’s attempts to suppress dissent by generating more dissent,” Greenberg says.