Hundreds gather in downtown Minneapolis for ‘No Kings’ early voting day of action

Under a sunny sky, people trickled into Commons Park in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday, forming a crowd of hundreds for a “No Kings” event focused on turning out voters for the midterm elections.

Emmett Doyle, a folk musician and one of 15 defendants facing federal felony conspiracy charges stemming from protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s crackdown in Minnesota, performed at the event.

“When I was getting pulled out of my truck by federal agents a couple months ago, one of the first things I asked them was, ‘Hey, is this about the songs?’ And they told me, ‘No, it’s about resisting ICE,’” Doyle said. “I told them, ‘Well, you’re going to have to arrest all of Minneapolis if you want to hit me for that.’”

Doyle was also joined by Brian Apland, another defendant in the case of the group of anti-ICE activists who have become known as the Minnesota 15.

Doyle’s first song was “L’Estaca” by Lluís Llach, a song written in the 1960s in protest of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in Spain.

The Minneapolis event was organized by Indivisible Twin Cities, MN50501, Women’s March Minnesota and the Minnesota AFL-CIO. It drew a smaller crowd compared to the Twin Cities rallies on previous anti-Trump No Kings days.

The last No Kings day in March closely followed Operation Metro Surge and drew tens of thousands of people to the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul for the movement’s flagship protest. Organizers estimated 200,000 people gathered. The first two No Kings days were held on June 14, 2025, hours after the assassination of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark; and on Oct. 18, 2025.

Organizers said they intended the event to be distinct from previous No Kings rallies, which focused on protesting the Trump administration, saying Saturday’s event would be “a day of nonpartisan voter participation.”

Distinct it was — alongside political speeches and signs urging people to vote, food trucks lined the park and activities were set up for kids. It was also not particularly nonpartisan, with Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison as the second speaker and DFL politicians in attendance.

Mick Foley, 77, a retired U.S. Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam War, said he attended because he was concerned about the current direction of the country.

“I did fight for this country, and I hate to see it go down in corruption and in flames,” Foley said. “So, I’m here because it’s at least something I can do to fight back.”

Foley also criticized the war in Iran, saying it had kept his “fellow sailors” aboard an aircraft carrier for months unnecessarily.

“We can’t go to war without Congress, without a cause, without a solution,” Foley said.

The war in Iran, which started in February, has driven up fuel, gas and grocery prices, becoming a central issue ahead of November’s elections.

Jeff Dichter, 68, and a physician and professor at the University of Minnesota from Eagan, said he showed up to make people more aware of changes in healthcare, especially insurance losses from new Medicaid work requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“I’m really worried about my patients,” Dichter said. “I’m worrying about our healthcare system in general. Because everybody’s cost is going to go up because all of a sudden we have 15% of our population less insured.”

Dichter, who was there as a volunteer with Indivisible, said he voted Democrat on a mail-in ballot last week.

Aiden Ferris, 18, and Caden Laird, 20, both college students in Minneapolis, said that the “importance of voting” brought them to the event.

“Some races were decided by like 10, 50 votes, and it’s really important to get out and vote this year, especially with every House seat on the line. And there’s a lot of close races here, with Peggy Flanagan and Michele Tafoya and then the governor’s race,” Ferris said. “So it’s really important to make your voice heard and shape Minnesota’s future.”

Laird, who works for Democratic state Rep. Kristin Bahner’s reelection campaign, held a sign reading “Vote for people you trust around your kids.”

The event comes as Minnesota faces heightened federal scrutiny regarding its elections. In August, the U.S. The Department of Justice sent election monitors to polling sites to two Minnesota countries. Trump has also made claims, without evidence, of election fraud in the state, and federal prosecutors recently charged 10 people with illegally voting or registering to vote in Minnesota elections.

Zack Filipovich, a DFL candidate for Minnesota state auditor, said the federal scrutiny has increased concerns about voting rights and election security.

“I think people are fed up with federal government overreach, and I think people want to make sure that their voting rights and their voting power is being utilized and not being taken away,” Filipovich said.

But Filipovich said he remains confident in Minnesota’s election system.

“We know that having paper ballots works, and that accountability, that safety, that voting security is important to have here in Minnesota,” he said.

The general election is on Nov. 3. Early voting began Friday. More than 200,000 ballots had been cast statewide as of Friday morning, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.