On a windy Saturday in St. Paul, hundreds of thousands gathered at the Minnesota Capitol, chanting, “No Billionaires, No Tyrants and No Kings” at the third No Kings rally.

Minnesota was chosen as the main protest site because of the recent impacts of Operation Metro Surge, which some protestors described as an erosion of democracy.

According to organizers, there were 3,100 protests, with around 200,000 people attending the protest in Minnesota.

High-profile singers and political activists like Jane Fonda and Bruce Springsteen spoke at the rally, saying Minnesota was a source of hope.

The Department of Homeland Security sent more than 4,000 agents to Minnesota in preparation for the widespread protests and gatherings across the state Saturday.

Organizer Zach Lindstrom, with the grassroots protest movement 50501, said he wanted Minnesota to be the flagship protest site because of President Donald Trump’s targeting of the state. 

Michelle Hanlon, the strategy messaging team lead for 50501, said Minnesota has been an example for other states to follow.

“Minnesota has also shown the model for resistance,” Hanlon said. “We’ve shown how you fight back. We’ve shown how you do this in a non-violent and peaceful way. We are building the blueprint that we wanna show the rest of the country that we can fight back, that we haven’t lost, that there are more of us than there are of them.”

DHS announced the end of the Metro Surge in February, with a gradual drawdown of ICE agents, reported the Star Tribune. The surge caused Minnesota’s economy to lose around $203 million, reported the Minnesota Daily.

In January, ICE agents shot Minneapolis resident Renée Good and ICU nurse Alex Pretti. Many posters at the protest featured their faces and inspired a moment of silence.  

Minnesota couple Jeff and Beverly Edelstein decided to attend the No Kings Protest because of Pretti’s killing.  

“We were actually watching TV at the time when the whole thing happened in real time, and we could not believe what had happened,” Jeff Edelstein said.

Barbara Tuckner said this was not her first time at a No Kings protest, but she wanted to come out again because she is afraid for her family’s future.

“We’re witnessing something that is worse than the Vietnam era,” Tuckner said. “When I was growing up, this was the dismantling of our democracy. This is the dismantling of all the things that we hold dear, like free speech, human rights, that kind of thing. The fact that one man in this administration is doing this is appalling.”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gave an almost 30-minute speech condemning Trump’s recent actions with ICE funding and the armed conflict in Iran.

“When historians write about this dangerous moment in American history, when they write about courage and sacrifice, the people of Minnesota will deserve a special chapter for themselves,” Sanders said. 

Angela From attended with her husband and two children. She had been out to protest before, but this was her son’s first time.

“We have to as a society, come together, we the people, and voice our dissatisfaction with the current administration and the danger and all around bad stuff happening,” From said. “I want a better future for my children and for my grandchildren, right? This is not, this is not the world that I wanna leave for my kids or my grandkids.” 

While Tuckner said the local government is doing a good job during Operation Metro Surge, she hopes the protest will cause more politicians to criticize Trump. 

“It continues to put pressure on our legislature to make democrats and Republicans alike believe that this cannot go on,” Tuckner said. “That we cannot sustain this. This has got to stop.”

From said the protest is more than a comment on political right and wrong.

“This is not, this does not need to be a left versus right, Democrat versus Republican,” From said. “This is human rights, and it is for the betterment of our community, and we need to protect our immigrant community.”