More than 1,000 people attend ‘No Kings’ rally in Las Vegas

Mirroring similar rallies in cities around the country, “No Kings” protests in Las Vegas and other cities in Southern Nevada on Saturday drew attendees who came out to criticize the policies and practices of President Donald Trump and his administration.

About 1,400 people had converged on downtown Las Vegas for the No Kings rally there, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a post on X just before 7 p.m. Police said seven people were arrested for refusing to remove a prohibited item, throwing rocks, battery against protesters and pedestrian in the roadway.

The rallies, following other No Kings demonstrations in June and October, were the latest large-scale push by Trump’s critics to highlight what they argue is the threat posed by the Trump administration to American democracy. Trump’s supporters pushed back against that notion.

Mark Lukens, 70, of Las Vegas, said he was protesting for his two-month-old granddaughter. “I’ll be damned if she grows up in an environment where she doesn’t have the same rights her grandmother had,” Lukens said. “I have to turn out before it’s too late.”

Meanwhile, other protesters chanted “Bootlickers!” as some waved American flags and others held signs reading “ICE OUT.” On the opposite side of Las Vegas Boulevard, about a dozen pro-Trump demonstrators waved campaign signs and banners reading “King Jesus.”

The rallies were not without scrutiny from Republican leaders. Las Vegas conservative activist Chuck Muth, president of the Citizen Outreach Foundation, said in a phone interview Saturday he believed the demonstrations were driven by people with an extreme or obsessive hatred of the president.

“The whole premise is absurd,” said Muth, who wasn’t at the protest. “If Donald Trump were a king, he would not have to deal with Congress.”

Road closure

Indivisible Las Vegas, the organizer behind the downtown Las Vegas demonstration, said on its website that it paid the city to close one side of Las Vegas Boulevard between Bridger and Bonneville avenues for the event. The two-block stretch is also home to the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse, where the march began. Police had also announced that that stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard was closed to vehicle traffic for the demonstration.

Around 6 p.m., nearby officers arrested a man after he became physical with another person who was using a megaphone to shout at counter protesters singing worship music.

Dozens of Metro vehicles lined the median on Las Vegas Boulevard. When the march began, officers passed handfuls of zip ties among themselves.

“I am fine with peaceful protests and rallies, but why inconvenience visitors and locals?” Muth said, lamenting the road closure.

In June, an estimated 8,000 people attended a No Kings rally in downtown Las Vegas, with police making 15 arrests. Days earlier, another protest in downtown Las Vegas that drew about 800 people had led to 100 arrests, the Metropolitan Police Department said at the time. While that protest was peaceful for about three hours, police began to use tear gas and nonlethal projectiles to push crowds back after declaring the protest to be unlawful.

In online promotions for Saturday’s rally, Indivisible said participants must commit to nonviolence — meaning they could not bring weapons and were expected to de-escalate any confrontations with potential agitators.

The nationwide protests have drawn significant crowds. Organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. This week they told reporters they expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was too early to tell whether those expectations were met. Organizers said more than 3,100 events — 500 more than in October — were registered in all 50 states.

Organizers with the No Kings Coalition said the demonstrations are a response to, among other issues, what they view as executive overreach on immigration, with ICE crackdowns and detention practices being key concerns. They also cited the ongoing war in Iran.

Olivia Giangregorio, 19, of Las Vegas, said Trump’s immigration policies also brought her out on Saturday.

“No one is illegal,” Giangregorio said. “We’re standing on stolen land. I’m very sick of ICE coming around and just taking people off the streets.”

Athar Haseebullah, the executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, was among the speakers closing out the demonstration as it wrapped up at about 7 p.m. He said he had been at No Kings protests throughout the state on Saturday.

“This community deserves to exercise it’s First Amendment right without being tormented by police,” Haseebullah said.

Trump won Nevada, lost Clark County

Trump, who ran on a platform that emphasized stricter immigration enforcement, including expanded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and increased deportations, won Nevada by 46,000 votes in the 2024 presidential election. But he lost Clark County, where then Vice President Kamala Harris won 50.49 percent of the vote compared to Trump’s 47.76 percent.

Trump’s approval rating has also fallen since January 2025, when he took office, while his disapproval rating has risen since then, according to polling from Emerson College.

Polling published by the college on March 20 showed that 42 percent of likely voters approve of the job President Trump is doing, while 51 percent disapprove. That’s a drop of one point in his approval rating since February (43 percent) and a drop of seven points since January 2025 (49 percent). With respect to Trump’s disapproval rating, that’s a drop of four points since February (55 percent) and a rise of 10 points since January 2025 (41 percent), according to the Emerson College polling.

In a statement Friday, the White House derided the protests.

“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” said Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman.

Protests had also been scheduled Saturday for Henderson, North Las Vegas, Pahrump and Mesquite, according to the No Kings website.