St. Paul ‘No Kings’ rally attracts 25,000 as community mourns shooting of lawmakers

A day that was meant to be celebratory turned somber on Saturday, when news broke of shootings targeting two Minnesota lawmakers in their homes.

That didn’t keep tens of thousands of people from gathering at the Minnesota Capitol to participate in a “No Kings” rally, part of a nationwide series of protests coordinated by labor and pro-democracy groups.

The Minnesota State Patrol cautioned against attending the rallies as officers searched for the shooter, who fatally shot House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband in their Brooklyn Park home, and injured Sen. John Hoffman, DFL-Champlin, and his wife.

Hundreds gathered at St. Paul College just before 11 a.m., with flags and posters that included messages in support of the lawmakers: “Walking for Hortman and Hoffman, and their spouses.” 

At midday, as the crowd marched towards the Capitol, hundreds turned to thousands. Department of Public Safety spokesman Howie Padilla said an estimated 25,000 people turned out. 

Los Angeles transplant Gwen Lane, who came to the rally with her friends, said she was there as an immigrant “to stand up for what’s happening to immigrants, who are being detained without due process. I could also be profiled and targeted, so I’m here to protest what is happening to my people in the country.”

The “No Kings” rallies across the country coincided with the military parade celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary as well as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. 

Doug Leung, a veteran and member of About Face: Veterans Against the War, was in Washington, D.C., on Friday protesting the wars in Gaza and Iran, and showed up for Saturday’s rally in solidarity with immigrants and against “Trump’s complicity in these wars.” Leung said the shootings are “attempts to stop us from mobilizing against fascist elements in the country.”

When May Hser heard about the assassinations, she said she wasn’t sure she would attend the rally, keeping her safety in mind. But she came anyway, with a sign that read “You want my labor, but not my life?” 

@sahanjournal Tens of thousands gathered at the State Capitol in St. Paul on Saturday for a No Kings rally on the heels of a shooting that killed one Minnesota legislator and wounded another. Video by @woo_alberto #NoKings #rally #MinnesotaCapitol #twincities #minnesota #minneapolis #protest #trump#immigration ♬ original sound – Sahan Journal

“It is a very scary situation,” she said, “and I’m scared for our democracy. But this is bigger than me, and I’m happy to see so many people out here.” 

Urbae Hall, who attended the rally with her daughter and her friends, said: “We all feel unsafe, not just because of what happened last night, but because of what has been happening for the past few months.” She added, “It breaks my heart that this is happening on American soil.”

At the Capitol, where Gov. Tim Walz was originally scheduled to speak before the program had to be changed, several speakers addressed the crowd, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, who held a minute’s silence for Hortman and Hoffman. 

“Today, I am grieving for Melissa and her husband Mark,” read a statement from his office. “I am also grieving for Minnesota, as we try and navigate this difficult moment.” 

“The timing of that attack was not a coincidence,” said civil rights lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of the speakers at the rally. 

Levy Armstrong led the crowds in chants of “We don’t bow to kings.” 

Monique Cullars-Doty, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, also spoke about the attack: “It echoes to me the deaths of Black and brown people. Their deaths will not be in vain, we will organize and fight.” 

Dakota elder, poet and veteran Tatanka Ohitika, or Strong Buffalo, believes that such incidents of violence are all the more reason for people to “peacefully protest and dissent, encouraged by today and all these people.”

Melody Kamrani, an Iranian-American who moved to the Twin Cities just a few weeks ago, said that attending the rally “made me love the city even more.” She said that even though the news of the killings was “upsetting and devastating,” she didn’t question attending the rally. 

“It’s nice to see everyone show up, but I’m left wondering what’s next,” she said. “What can we do other than reject an idea? I don’t know. Because this is bigger than just what’s happening in the U.S. right now,” referring to the war that broke out between Israel and Iran yesterday.

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