No Kings

The movement is closely associated with American Opposition, a political action committee (PAC) founded by Colorado-based strategic communications professional Carlos Alvarez-Aranyos in January 2025. The principal institutional coordinator of the No Kings movement’s flagship events was Indivisible, a left-wing lobbying and electoral advocacy organization that had received more than $5 million from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) between 2021 and 2023. Another major coordinator, MoveOn, received $3.2 million from OSF between 2020 and 2024. ^{5 4 6 7 8 9 10}

Background

The slogan “No Kings” was coined by the 50501 Movement, a left-of-center protest movement that originated as a Reddit post in late January 2025 by a user identified as Evolved_Fungi. The 50501 name stood for 50 protests, 50 states, and one movement. The movement organized its first national protest on February 5, 2025, and used the phrase in subsequent actions, including a Presidents’ Day protest on February 17, 2025, titled “No Kings on Presidents Day.” ^{11 12 13}

The movement is closely associated with American Opposition, a political action committee (PAC) founded by Colorado-based strategic communications professional Carlos Alvarez-Aranyos in January 2025. American Opposition was formally announced on February 4, 2025, the day before 50501’s first national protest. Its founder Alvarez-Aranyos had previously worked as communications director for Protect Democracy in 2020 and co-founded the American Sunlight Project, a disinformation-focused nonprofit, in 2024. American Opposition operated as a super PAC and raised money through its website and the left-of-center donation platform ActBlue. He was also the founder of Boulder Transport, a Colorado ground and air transportation company. ^{14 15 16}

By June 2025, around the same day as President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday and the U.S. Army‘s 250th Anniversary Parade in D.C., the No Kings brand was being used by roughly 200 partner organizations. ^{3 17}

Activities

The first national No Kings event took place on June 14, 2025, with local events and marches occurring in cities across the country. Organizers claimed that over five million protests participated in events in all 50 states, several U.S territories, and a few international locations.  ^{3 18}

The next major No Kings event took place on October 18, 2025, with organizers claiming they had included roughly seven million participants in over 2,700 locations around the United States with Indivisible and the 50501 Movement serving as the principal organizers. A nonprofit called Home of the Brave ran a reported $1 million newspaper advertisement campaign promoting the event. ^{4 19 20 21}

Following this, No Kings organized a national protest on March 28, 2026 with organizers claiming to have over 3,300 locations and over 8 million participants. They were coordinated by Indivisible and 50501 Movement in addition to the AFL-CIO and Third Act. Attendees included actress Jane Fonda, singer Bruce Springsteen, singer Joan Baez, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). ^{22 23 24 25 26}

Beyond organizing protests, No Kings also launched a program called One Million Rising, described on its website as an effort to train one million people in “non-cooperation” tactics and community organizing. ²⁷

Funding and Affiliated Organizations

No Kings had no independent legal existence and disclosed no finances of its own as of April 2026. American Opposition, the PAC associated with No Kings co-founder Alvarez-Aranyos, reported raising money exclusively through small donations via its website and ActBlue, with Alvarez-Aranyos stating in June 2025 that no individual contribution had exceeded $2,000. ²⁸

The initial coordinator of the No Kings movement’s was Indivisible, a left-of-center 501(c)(4) organization that had received more than $5 million from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) between 2021 and 2023. Another major coordinator, MoveOn, received $3.2 million from OSF between 2020 and 2024. ^{6 8 9} Fox News also reported that organizations funded by radical-left tech businessman Neville Roy Singham had also participated in organizing local No Kings protests.  ^{29 30}

Billionaire Walmart heiress Christy Walton purchased a full-page advertisement in the New York Times promoting the No Kings protests. ³¹

A Pearl Project investigation found that 70 of the partners listed on the No Kings organizing platform Mobilize.us were also affiliates of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). ³²

Controversy

During the June 2025 protests, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) arrested 38 individuals on charges including vandalism and assault on police officers. On the same day in Denver, at least 36 people were arrested after marchers moved onto a highway interchange and threw rocks and bottles at police. A man was arrested at a West Chester, Pennsylvania, protest for allegedly carrying an unlicensed handgun and improvised explosives. ^{4 33 34 35}

During the October 2025 protests, three men were arrested in Chicago while traveling to multiple demonstration sites on charges of allegedly conspiring to impersonate police officers and unlawful possession of ammunition. During the March 2026 protests law enforcement used tear gas and flash grenades against protesters who had gathered outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility while arresting at least three protesters including one charged with first-degree criminal mischief and criminal trespass after allegedly climbing onto the facility’s roof and vandalizing it. In Los Angeles, police fired tear gas and pepper balls and arrested 75 people at protests near a federal detention center. ^{36 37 38 39}