Montanans Join Nationwide No Kings Rallies Across Dozens of Cities

State officials reversed a permit denial just days before the event, allowing more than 1,500 people to gather Saturday on the lawn and sidewalks in front of the Montana State Capitol for Helena's edition of the third "No Kings" rally.

Organizers had originally been denied a permit to use the flag plaza after state leaders changed their policy for weekend events on the Capitol grounds. The state reversed course within the week, and the rally took place as originally planned. The crowd chanted "The nation united will never be divided" and "ICE out right now" from the Capitol grounds.

Helena's turnout was part of a far larger statewide mobilization. At least 3,500 protesters marched down Higgins Avenue to Caras Park along the Clark Fork River in Missoula, chanting "No Kings" and "No more ICE." A Billings local television station estimated 3,300 people at the rally in Montana's largest city. In Bozeman, organizers estimated 8,000 to 9,000 attended, though other outlets reported the figure simply as "thousands." Great Falls drew hundreds to the federal courthouse and along the Central Avenue bridge, while smaller communities from Whitefish to Havre to Hamilton also turned out.

The Montana rallies were part of a national day of action that included more than 3,200 events across all 50 states. The two previous "No Kings" events drew millions of participants nationally, and organizers said turnout in smaller communities jumped nearly 40 percent from the movement's first mobilization.

Protesters across Montana directed their signs and speeches at President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies, the administration's war in Iran, and what speakers characterized as authoritarian overreach. In Missoula, speakers addressed the U.S. Constitution, broken promises for Indigenous people, and the history of immigrants in the United States.

"I'm protesting because as a 12 year old I shouldn't have to worry about my future," said Lur Hammon Combe, who attended the Missoula march with her father and said she was worried about climate change, immigration, and the feeling of not being safe in America. Missoula, which Trump lost by a 22-point margin in 2024, drew a crowd that skewed older; senior Maggie Smith turned out anyway and asked: "Where are all the young people?"

In Butte, protester Debra Brown framed her concerns in fiscal terms, saying she wanted "a little more civility, dignity, common sense and less squandering of taxpayer money."

In Hamilton, a Bitterroot Valley town of around 5,000 residents about 60 miles south of Missoula, at least a few dozen people lined the road carrying signs that read "I'm proud of our constitution," "we defend your right to disagree," and "No King, No War, No ICE."

No arrests or incidents were reported at any of the Montana locations. The specific state office that initially denied the Helena permit and subsequently granted the waiver has not been publicly identified.