‘Momentous occasion.’ More than 2,000 attend third ‘No Kings’ rally in State College
A melting pot of more than 2,000 people bundled in winter caps and jackets gathered at Penn State’s Old Main lawn Saturday afternoon to take part in the latest anti-Trump “No Kings” rally, part of a nationwide series of demonstrations across the U.S.
Local attendees ranged in age from small children who needed their hands held to elders who needed canes to steady themselves. They arrived for different reasons — rising prices, the war in Iran, ICE enforcement, the Epstein files — but they all came for the same purpose.
“I wanted to be part of a gathering that says, ‘Enough of this,’ ” State College resident Brad Merkel said, referring to President Donald Trump as “despicable.” “I feel like everybody here has that same kind of feeling.”
Saturday served as the third nationwide “No Kings” protest, with the others coming last year in June and October. More than 5 million people are believed to have taken part in each of the last two, making those previous demonstrations among the largest single-day protests in American history.
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The national organizations behind “No Kings” announced Saturday night that at least 8 million people gathered at more than 3,300 events this time around. Hundreds more demonstrations took place compared to October’s event — and national organizers called Saturday the “largest single-day nonviolent protest in modern American history.”
“What do I hope will come out of this?” asked Mark Snyder, who graduated from the State College Area School District in 1969. “Just that the largest protest in American history maybe will give some strength to the spines of Republicans in Congress.”
Technical difficulties prevented speakers at the local rally from using the microphone in front of Old Main, before the gathering transitioned into a march. But, at one or two different points, the lively atmosphere more resembled ESPN’s College GameDay, which typically sets up once in the fall.
Speakers were forced to rely on a megaphone, and their success in reaching the crowd varied. But Michel Lee Garrett, an LGBTQ+ advocate and member of the trans community, made sure her voice was heard.
“I know you are tired. I know you are scared,” her voice boomed toward the quieted crowd. “But our forerunners and ancestors did not fight for us to give up now. Feel your power. We won before; we will win again!”
The crowd then started chanting, “We won before; we will win again!”
More than half of those who attended then took part in a prepared march, which started at Old Main before cutting across Burrowes Street, heading down Atherton Street and then taking protesters along College Avenue to the Allen Street Gates.
Armed with witty signs, protesters walked shoulder-to-shoulder and remained on the sidewalks, causing little traffic impact. But passing cars still honked in support, with some passengers craning their necks and snapping photos out of their car windows in the 40-degree weather.
Signs included phrases like “No allies. Just all lies.” And “Silence is acceptance. Speak Loudly.” And “For the Epsteinth Time, No Kings.”
“I’m happy to be among like-minded people who are showing their constructive criticism of our existing president and his policies,” Boalsburg resident Robin Becker said.
The snaking line of marching protesters didn’t appear to have an end. It took more than 25 minutes for the last of the protesters to pass the same intersection as the first.
At least 1,000 of those who attended the rally opted to march. Some believed the State College crowd might’ve exceeded more than 4,000 attendees. But both the Centre Daily Times and local organizing group Keystone Indivisible independently estimated — conservatively, using crowd-estimating software — that at least 2,000 showed up.
Local organizers previously estimated about 1,000 attendees for June’s rally and 3,000 for October’s.
Whatever the final numbers, attendees said they hoped Saturday made a statement — that they don’t like the direction the U.S. is headed and that people who think that way aren’t alone.
“When I first showed up here, I sort of got butterflies in my stomach, just realizing this was a momentous occasion,” State College resident Hannah Ntwali-Ingram said, two hours after the protest began. “And to be a part of it was really meaningful.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 1:14 PM.
