Thousands protest Trump agenda at “No Kings” rallies in Helena, Missoula and dozens of Montana locations

Thousands of people gathered to protest President Donald Trump’s agenda in Missoula, Helena, Great Falls, Billings, Bozeman and other locations throughout Montana on Saturday for the third “No Kings” rally, a nationwide event.

In large cities and tiny towns, protesters waved signs, gave speeches and chanted slogans against the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement and the war in Iran. They also accused President Trump of embracing authoritarianism and trampling on democracy, among other grievances.

In Missoula, at least 3,500 protesters marched along the Clark Fork River reciting, “No Kings” and “No more ICE.” Billings’ local television station estimated 3,300 people at the rally in Montana’s largest city.

In Bozeman, thousands of protesters were reported. And in some small towns across Montana, a smattering of protesters could be spotted, waving signs and encouraging honks.

In Helena, more than 1,500 people gathered across the lawn and sidewalks in front of the state Capitol, chanting, “The nation united will never be divided” and “ICE out right now.”

Though Helena may not have been the largest protest, the event took on special significance for many attendees in the wake of a political back and forth over permitting. As of a week ago, the Helena rally would have looked and sounded quite different.

The organizers were initially unable to obtain a permit for the weekend event after the Montana Department of Administration changed event permit rules in February, effectively prohibiting all weekend rallies that required setup. But after the shift prompted public outcry, the state reversed its guidelines on March 20.

Standing on the capitol’s nearly off-limits Flag Plaza, Democratic former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock critiqued Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte for initially creating an obstacle to the weekend event.

“When the current governor tried to silence your voices to make it so that you can not gather here on the steps of the people’s house, you stood up and said ‘No, that’s not who we are,’” he said. (The state initially said it changed the permitting to save money.)

Claudia Clifford, an organizer with Indivisible Helena, a local chapter of the national Indivisible group involved in organizing No Kings protests, praised the public, media and state Democrats for pushing to change the state permit rule.

“The strength of our constitutional rights of free speech and assembly are seven days a week and that helped provide this venue today,” said Clifford to an audience which nearly filled the entire Capitol front lawn.

Another Indivisible Helena organizer Barbara Barnes told Montana Free Press that the group estimated around 3,500 people attended, according to a mapping app the group used. That figure would make this the biggest No Kings protest in Helena so far.

While the event permitting process went smoothly and allowed major equipment set-up, Barnes said that organizers chose not to connect to the Capitol power and instead used their own personal generators “just to be safe.”

A group of veterans, former state poet laureate Chris La Tray and local high school students also spoke from the stage as rally-goers waved signs with messages including “I’m here because I love America,” “No War,” and “Veto the Cheeto!” Chelsia Rice, the co-owner of downtown business MT Book Company, emceed the event. A man wearing an inflatable giant baby costume and a Trump mask waved at passing cars with his tiny toy hand.

A speaker reminded the attendees that the event was one of 3,250 “No Kings” demonstrations across the world on Saturday. “Stand up; fight back,” the crowd chanted at one point.

There did not appear to be any sort of organized counter-protest, though a young man in a large truck drove by the Helena rally and shouted, “No more sleepy Joe Biden! Trump is still a good president!”

In Great Falls, the largest city in a county where Trump won by a 22-point margin in 2024, about 800 people filled both sidewalks along a bridge west of downtown. Unlike the protest in Helena, there were no organized speakers or stage.

Instead, rally-goers directed their attention at passing cars, waving signs with messages like “hate never made America great” and “no sign is big enough to list all of the reasons I’m here.” One poster featured a butterfly underneath the text: “the only monarch I support.”

Linda Dahl, who said she drove about 60 miles from Conrad to attend the rally in Great Falls, told Montana Free Press that she wanted “to stop fascism and get our country back.”