Bloomington’s ‘No Kings 3.0’ protest features speeches, music, march down Kirkwood

Bloomington’s edition of the nationwide No Kings 3.0 protest took place Saturday (March 28) under sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-40s. The crowd, estimated by The B Square at around 2,000 people, gathered on the southeast corner of the historic Monroe County courthouse grounds. It’s a traditional local spot for protests and demonstrations.

The No Kings 3.0 rallies were organized by the 50501 movement, which is a national protest network that organizes demonstrations in cities and towns across the country, with the goal of mobilizing large numbers of people to oppose what organizers describe as authoritarian actions by the administration of President Donald Trump.

Russ Skiba, a retired Indiana University professor with the University Alliance for Racial Justice led off the day’s speeches: “We want to create communities where people care for each other. We don’t want masked secret police to terrorize our communities … or our prisons masquerading as detention centers.”

Skiba continued, “We don’t want attacks on our freedom of speech or civil rights or our freedom to vote. We don’t want Flock cameras or mass surveillance. We don’t want the reckless cruelty of kidnapping community members off the street and taking them to God knows where. We don’t want American citizens killed by a lawless personal police force from President Trump.”

“Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant, but this is America, and power belongs to the people not to wanna-be-kings or their billionaire cronies,” Skiba said.

Ben Baranko of the Indiana University Graduate Workers Coalition told the crowd, “We stand on a moral battleground. We are fighting in the corner of democracy, and our backs are against a fascistic wall. And yet, with the accomplishments of our forebears and the very survival of American freedom crushing our tired, broad shoulders, you all have not wavered once, and nor do I see any signs that we ever will.

Baranko framed the struggle in terms of joy: “I think joy sustains our actions. Joy truly is the great sustainer.” He continued, “Many of you today have come to protest with a smile on your face, because you know there is joy in standing for democracy. You know there is joy in advocating for the freedoms entitled to all Americans. You know there is joy in being a voice for the voiceless.”

Joy also figured into remarks from Erin Aquino, resettlement director with Exodus Refugee, but only at the end as she wrapped up her remarks: “We are tired and we are scared, because we care, and that is important. So keep going. Do not give up. Take a rest. Have some joy and keep fighting.”

Aquino’s message included a broad critique of recent federal actions: “I know that you’re all here today because you’re horrified at the ongoing atrocities and authoritarian overreach in our country and our state. In the last 14 months, we are witnessing attack after attack on our community, specifically on Black and Brown, immigrant, and queer populations. ICE is literally handcuffing children and killing people in broad daylight.”

Aquino continued: “Trump has eliminated a 45-year-old humanitarian refugee program. No refugees have been welcomed in 2026 to date.” She added, “We’ve had a halt on all asylum applications in our country. We’ve eliminated asylum protections for women. We’ve eliminated asylum at the border, we took food off the table of working families—the government took SNAP away from refugees last fall. A looming disaster will unfold this year, when they take Medicaid away from refugees.”

Joe Varga, professor of labor studies at Indiana University described various places where democracy is, and where people need to speak up: “[Democracy is] at the dinner table. It’s at the dinner table, when you have those conversations with your asshole uncle who voted for Trump twice, three times. Now, don’t take that shit from him. Tell him he’s an asshole. That’s where democracy is.”

Bryce Greene of the Young Democratic Socialists of America took some in the crowd a little off guard, when he spoke about his message of hate: “ So now, a lot of people here talk about the message of love, and how love trumps hate—but I got a different take on that. I’m here to spread a message of hate.”

Greene continued: “I hate the people who are doing this to us. I hate the people who launched the war in Iran. I hate the people who are detaining our brothers and sisters in ICE. I hate the people who are trying to make us poor by making us pay more for medical care, by increasing the cost of living by preventing a living wage from going to the pockets of workers. I hate those people.”

A woman in the front of the crowd wasn’t having it, telling Greene to hate the system, not the people. Greene did not back down: “Well, I hate the people, too.” But Green allowed that it is the system that is the problem. “The reason that we are blowing up Iran, the reason that we are detaining all these immigrants, the reason that you continue to get poor, isn’t because of a few people, isn’t because of a few bad ideas, isn’t because of a singular political party, it is because of capitalism.”

Jamie Broker, a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq told the crowd: “I thought by now we’d be closer to ending homelessness and hunger, closer to civility and peace, but instead, we’re living under a regime, one that goes around saying stupid shit like ‘peace through strength.’ What they really mean is: “You do what the fuck they say, and maybe they won’t shoot you in the face. ”

Providing a counterpoint to the protest was a pickup truck with flags flying in support of Trump, which drove north along Walnut Street several times.

Music was woven into the planned program, which led off with an original tune from Drew Cleary, written during the first Trump administration. Later, the Resistance Singers led the crowd in singing “We Are the Movement,” a protest song by the activist music collective The Peace Poets: “We are the movement, liberation moving, for every single human, we have come to win.”

Nationally known folk singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer’s turn onstage prompted Chris Klepper to dance with her granddaughter Sammy Priebe, and with Susan, a woman who happened to be standing next to Chris.

After more than an hour of speeches and music, some of the crowd marched a lap around the courthouse, then headed along Kirkwood Avenue east towards the Indiana University campus and its Sample Gates, turned north along Indiana Avenue, before looping back along 6th Street and eventually to Kirkwood Avenue, where the group retraced their route back to the courthouse square.

The march frustrated some motorists, but one motorcyclist who was forced to wait at the Kirkwood and Walnut intersection pumped his fist in support. A FedEx driver approaching Kirkwood from the south along Lincoln Street had to wait several minutes before he could continue making deliveries.

As the 3.0 label suggests, it was the third time large-scale protests have been organized. The first round was held on June 14, 2025 when protests were held in more than 2,000 cities, timed to coincide with President Trump’s birthday and a military parade in Washington. The second round of protests was held on Oct. 18, 2025 in roughly 2,700 locations across the country. The third round, held on Saturday, was expected to see rallies in more than 3,000 cities, according to reporting from Reuters.

Video: Carrie Newcomer “Lean in toward the light”

Photos: No Kings 3.0 Bloomington, Indiana