If you turned on the news last June or October, you probably saw a sea of yellow shirts and signs that looked like they belonged in a history textbook. Millions of people. Literal millions. The No Kings protests became a defining image of 2025, but the conversation afterward quickly turned into a messy debate about whether things actually stayed peaceful.
Basically, the narrative split in two.
On one side, organizers like Indivisible and the 50501 Movement pointed to the fact that 99.5% of the rallies had zero issues. On the other, the headlines were dominated by a few terrifying moments of violence at No Kings protests that left people wondering if we’ve reached a breaking point in how we disagree.
Honestly, both things are true. It’s kinda weird how that works. You can have seven million people marching peacefully in 2,700 cities, yet the whole story gets defined by a few blocks in Salt Lake City or a parking lot in Virginia.
The Moments That Went Wrong
Most of the "violence" people talk about wasn't actually started by the protesters themselves, though there were definitely scuffles with police. The most tragic event happened during the first round of rallies on June 14, 2025. In Salt Lake City, a 39-year-old fashion designer named Arthur Folasa Ah Loo was shot and killed.
It was a chaotic mess.
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An armed volunteer "peacekeeper" reportedly opened fire when a man with a rifle ran toward the crowd. Ah Loo was caught in the middle. He died later at the hospital. This one incident sent shockwaves through the movement, making everyone realize that "peaceful action" doesn't mean "safe environment" anymore.
Then you've got the cars.
For some reason, driving vehicles into crowds became a recurring nightmare. In Culpeper, Virginia, a 21-year-old man was arrested after allegedly accelerating his SUV into a group of people crossing a parking lot. Similar hit-and-run reports popped up in Riverside, California, where 21-year-old Alexa Carrasco was seriously injured.
When you see that kind of violence at No Kings protests, it’s hard to just look at the "99.5% peaceful" statistic and feel okay.
Police, Protesters, and the National Guard
The tension wasn't just between protesters and counter-protesters. It was also about the government's response. In Los Angeles, things got heavy early on. President Trump had already ordered the National Guard to the city by June 7 to protect immigration officers.
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By the time the June 14 No Kings rally rolled around, LA was a powder keg.
Police used tear gas and batons to break up crowds. Protesters felt like they were being treated like enemy combatants. Flash forward to the October 18 rallies—No Kings 2.0—and you see the same thing in Portland. Federal agents on the roof of an ICE facility used flash-bangs and smoke bombs on about 500 protesters.
What the Data Actually Says
According to researchers like Erica Chenoweth and organizations like the ACLU, the vast majority of these events were remarkably calm.
- June 14: Over 5 million people.
- October 18: Nearly 7 million people.
- Total arrests: Surprisingly low relative to the size, though over 120 were recorded by early October in Portland alone.
A Brookings Institution study noted something interesting: support for political violence actually shifted during this time. Curiously, while some left-leaning support for "necessary" violence ticked up to 26%, the actual events remained mostly non-violent. People were angry, but they weren't burning cities down. They were mostly just wearing yellow and holding signs that said "Democracy not Monarchy."
Why Was It So Tense?
The "No Kings" moniker came from the administration's own rhetoric. When White House social media started posting images of Trump as a monarch, people lost it. They saw the deployment of troops into American cities and the intensified immigration raids as a "long train of abuses," to use the Declaration of Independence's phrasing.
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The administration didn't hold back either.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Speaker Mike Johnson labeled the protesters as "antifa" and "pro-Hamas." They claimed the crowds were full of paid agitators. This kind of talk basically gave a green light to counter-protesters to show up armed. In places like Gillette, Wyoming, you had people heckling speakers and even some folks reportedly hailing Hitler.
It’s no wonder things boiled over.
Dealing With the Aftermath
If you're looking at the violence at No Kings protests as a sign of what's coming in 2026, there are a few things to keep in mind. The movement isn't going away. There are already plans for massive demonstrations on July 4, 2026, for the country's 250th anniversary.
The "3.5% rule" is what organizers are banking on—the idea that if you get 3.5% of the population involved, change becomes inevitable. But that only works if the movement stays disciplined.
Actionable Insights for Future Demonstrations
If you’re planning on attending or following these events, here’s how to stay grounded:
- Verify the Source: Don't just trust a 15-second clip on TikTok. Check multiple news outlets (like the AP, Reuters, or local papers) to see if a "riot" was actually just a small scuffle that got blown out of proportion.
- Understand the Legal Landscape: Knowing your rights around "kettling" or the use of "non-lethal" munitions is huge. Groups like the ACLU have specific guides for the 2025-2026 protest climate.
- Safety First: If you see "peacekeepers" or counter-protesters brandishing weapons, leave the immediate area. The Salt Lake City tragedy showed that even "friendly" fire is a real risk in high-stress crowds.
- Look at the Bigger Picture: One broken window in Portland doesn't mean 7 million people in 2,700 cities were violent. Context matters.
The reality of the violence at No Kings protests is that it was rare, but when it happened, it was extreme. It reflected a country that is deeply, perhaps dangerously, divided. As we move closer to the 2026 midterms, the "No Kings" banner is likely to get even heavier. Knowing the facts from the fiction is the only way to make sense of the noise.