POLITICS March 28, 2026 — Updated March 31, 2026

No Kings 3: 75 Arrested in LA, Tens of Thousands in NYC, Organizers Claim 8 Million

The third No Kings protest took place on Saturday, March 28, 2026. Organizers registered more than 3,300 events across all 50 states — a figure confirmed by the Washington Post. 75 people were arrested in Los Angeles after police fired tear gas near the Metropolitan Detention Center. NYPD confirmed tens of thousands across all five boroughs with zero protest-related arrests. Bruce Springsteen headlined in St. Paul. The Iran war featured as a central grievance for the first time. Organizers claimed 8 million participants — not independently verified. Here is what is confirmed.

What Is Confirmed

More than 3,300 No Kings rallies were registered across all 50 states, per the Washington Post. CBS News confirmed more than 3,100 registered events. This exceeds the approximately 2,600 events in October 2025 and 1,500 in June 2025, per NPR.

Events ranged from New York City to Driggs, Idaho — a town of fewer than 2,000 people in a state Trump carried with 66% of the vote in 2024, per CBS News. Philadelphia's rally shut down roadways. Chicago's was organized by Indivisible Chicago and the ACLU of Illinois. Rallies also took place in Texas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and dozens of other cities, per CBS News. International events took place in Europe as well, per the Guardian.

St. Paul police shut down several streets around the Minnesota Capitol to accommodate crowds, per CBS News.

In New York City, NYPD confirmed "tens of thousands of people across all five boroughs peacefully exercising their first amendment rights," with zero protest-related arrests, according to CBS News New York. The march stretched more than 10 blocks in midtown Manhattan on Seventh Avenue, according to Reuters, which cited a police estimate of "tens of thousands." Actor Robert De Niro, along with TV host Padma Lakshmi and Rev. Al Sharpton, spoke at the NYC event, according to amNewYork. De Niro told the crowd that no president before Trump has posed "such an existential threat to our democracy," according to Reuters.

Los Angeles: Arrests and Tear Gas at the Detention Center

The main Los Angeles rally at Gloria Molina Grand Park near City Hall was peaceful. After the rally ended Saturday evening, a smaller group — approximately 150 people, per the Guardian — moved toward the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility. Protesters began attempting to tear down a chain-link fence blocking the building. Video showed agitators throwing objects over the fence.

At approximately 5:30 p.m., LAPD officers fired pepper balls and tear gas to disperse the crowd, per ABC7 and the Guardian. LAPD went on Tactical Alert. By Sunday, LAPD reported 75 total arrests — 66 adults and 9 juveniles — in connection with Saturday's events, according to ABC7. The AP confirmed "dozens of arrests" following failure to comply with dispersal orders.

The Metropolitan Detention Center has been a recurring flashpoint during previous No Kings protests in Los Angeles, per ABC7.

Arrest Breakdown (LAPD)

According to LAPD's Sunday statement reported by ABC7:

The unlawful assembly was declared after protesters threw rocks, bottles, and pieces of concrete at federal officers, per LAPD. The dispersal order was issued at approximately 5:28 p.m. Saturday. Tensions had escalated after the official rally ended and a smaller group moved from Gloria Molina Grand Park toward the federal complex. (Source: ABC7, March 29, 2026.)

The LA Times reported that tear gas and pepper balls left at least one teenager with an eye wound and others with skin burns, according to demonstrator accounts. (Source: LA Times, March 29, 2026.)

Federal Prosecution: DOJ Begins Separate Arrests

On Monday, March 30, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California announced on X (formerly Twitter) that federal agents had begun arresting individuals who assaulted federal personnel at the U.S. Courthouse and Metropolitan Detention Center during Saturday's protest.

Essayli wrote: "Federal agents have started arresting those who assaulted our personnel at the Los Angeles courthouse. To those who were smashing concrete blocks and throwing them at our officers, we have you on video. We will find you and arrest you too. You've been warned." (Source: Essayli's X post, March 29, 2026; reported by OAN, March 30, 2026; LA Daily News, March 29, 2026.)

Essayli stated his office had authorized immediate arrests for assaults on federal officers, and that individuals identified via surveillance footage would face federal felony charges. The investigation is being conducted in coordination with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service. The number of federal arrests made as of March 31 has not been publicly disclosed. These federal charges are separate from and in addition to the 75 LAPD arrests. (Source: OAN, March 30, 2026; LA Daily News, March 29, 2026.)

The Department of Homeland Security stated that a group of roughly 1,000 people had been involved in the confrontation near the federal complex, per reporting by The Blaze. (Source: The Blaze, March 30, 2026.)

St. Paul: The Flagship Event

The Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul was designated the national flagship event. The location was chosen because Minnesota became a focal point of resistance to the Trump administration after federal agents fatally shot Renee Good (January 7, 2026) and Alex Pretti (January 24, 2026) during immigration enforcement operations, per CBS News citing earlier CBS reporting.

Bruce Springsteen performed "Streets of Minneapolis," a song he wrote in response to those shootings. Before performing, he addressed the crowd: "Your strength and your commitment told us that this was still America. And this reactionary nightmare, and these invasions of American cities, will not stand." These exact words were reported by CBS News.

The lineup also included Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, and Senator Bernie Sanders, per CBS News.

The Iran War as a New Grievance

The first two No Kings rounds (June and October 2025) focused primarily on immigration enforcement and democratic governance. The March 28 event added the Iran war — which began February 28, exactly four weeks earlier — as a central issue, per NPR.

NPR interviewed Carina Kagan, a Mexican-Filipino American whose daughter is in the Army, who drove more than two hours from Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, to Kansas City to protest. She told NPR: "Right now, the military boots on the ground possibility is the biggest thing in my head. It's just a useless, vain war by a demented, old man, and to have to know that all these Americans might die for that — it's just top of mind."

The White House Response

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded to a request for comment from NPR: "The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them." Jackson also listed what she described as some of the movement's "major leftist" financial backers, per NPR.

What Is Not Verified: The Crowd Count

Organizers claimed at least 8 million people participated in Saturday's events across more than 3,300 locations — which they described as the "largest single-day nonviolent protest in modern American history," per ABC7 and USA Today. The New York Times reported the 8 million figure as organizer-provided and stated it "is doing its own reporting on some of the turnout, but has not independently" verified it.

USA Today noted the organizers' count of 8 million was "not verified by independent analysts." Prior No Kings rounds followed a similar pattern: organizers claimed 5 million in June 2025 and 7 million in October 2025. For October, independent analyst G. Elliott Morris estimated actual attendance at 5.0 to 6.5 million — below the organizer figure but still historically large.

Organizers estimated more than 200,000 attended the St. Paul rally specifically, per CBS News (pre-event estimate). No independent post-event count for St. Paul had been published as of March 30.

Ranked does not report unverified crowd estimates as fact. The independently confirmed facts are: 3,300+ registered events, NYPD-confirmed "tens of thousands" in NYC, 75 LAPD arrests in LA, confirmed street closures in multiple cities, confirmed participation of named public figures including Springsteen, Baez, Fonda, Sanders, De Niro, Lakshmi, and Sharpton.

Context: The Movement's History

The No Kings movement is organized by a coalition including Indivisible, the 50501 movement, and the AFL-CIO, per Wikipedia's documentation. The name references the American constitutional principle that the country has no king — only elected leaders accountable to voters.

Three rounds have now taken place:

The event count has grown with each round. Whether actual attendance has grown proportionally cannot be confirmed from available data.