No Kings, October 18, 2025

Of course, I went to the biggest local No Kings event here in the Twin Cities: in downtown Minneapolis.

I have no personal perspective on how many people were there, because I stayed in one spot during the first hour as the crowd gathered, and then went on the march and stayed in one spot within the march column, so I didn't see the length of it. 

Here's an overhead shot, taken about 20 minutes after the official start time, showing most of the gathering area:

The place where I was standing is not in this image, however, so I know this is not all the people. The group of people I was with is just outside the lower left corner, which is between the light rail station and the stadium where the Minnesota Vikings play. The event's speakers were somewhere in the upper right corner of the park area, I think. I couldn't hear them at all where I was. Sometimes, we could hear the crowd's applause. 

The attendance estimate that's being put out is 100,000–150,000, but I don't know what that's based on. I will say, I think the energy at this event was more lively than the events held at the State Capitol in Saint Paul.

Some of that is because of the many Portland-inspired characters who showed up. It wasn't just frogs and unicorns:

That guy on the left is an alien holding a small human, who is an ICE agent. Sort of a meta-comment on abduction.

I didn't get too many photos because I was playing percussion with the Brass Solidarity band. But I did my best between songs and chants.

I missed a lot of great signs. The ones I did get are focused on wordings I haven't seen before, the sign's earnestness, or the effort put into it.

 

I really liked the use of stencils on that last one.

The laser-eyed loon has become a local favorite after it appeared on one of the failed entries for our state flag in 2023, so it was nice to see the bird being put to use on a No Kings shirt:

And props to the people who made these story-tall banners and hung them from one of Minneapolis's ugly parking garages along the march route:

It was a lot of hours of standing and walking on concrete, but it was a beautiful day full of connecting with other people who've had it with WTF is happening in our country.