THIS MARKS A BIG WEEK for anyone concerned about the future of this country under the leadership of President Donald Trump and his administration. That includes me. This is a week of unified nationwide protests.
I’ve protested so many times already—in Faribault, Northfield and Owatonna—against what’s unfolding in America that I’ve lost count. And lest anyone thinks peaceful public protests don’t matter, they do. This is one way to raise our voices, to stand up for democracy, to protect our voting rights, to support our immigrant neighbors, to oppose that which is morally and ethically wrong. To resist and publicly stand for freedom, justice, peace, and much more.
This Thursday and then again on Saturday, concerned Americans will rise up, not in a violent insurrection, but in peaceful protest. Using our voices and our signs, we will make our statements. And, living in a primarily “red” community like I do, it’s especially important for me and others to take a visible public stand.
BRIDGE PROTEST ALONG I-35
The week’s protests begin on Thursday with a No Kings Democracy Bridge Protest along the Interstate 35 corridor from Minnesota to Texas. If Faribault had a bridge over the interstate, we’d be out there. We don’t. But only a short drive to the south in Owatonna and Medford, organized protests on bridges are planned from 4-5:50 p.m. on Thursday. Protesters gathering on 46 bridges over and along I-35 will hold letter signs (rather than individual signs), spelling out messages, making the words highly-visible to the millions traveling this corridor. Messages like: NO WAR NO KINGS and YES DEMOCRACY—NO KINGS 3/28!
NO KINGS DAY PROTEST
Thursday’s border-to-border bridge protests are a lead-up to the main event, the third nationwide NO KINGS protest on Saturday, March 28. Here in Faribault, we will gather outside the Rice County government services building along Minnesota State Highway 60 from 11 a.m.-noon as we have every Saturday for almost three months.
I’ve stood there in frigid cold, in a snowstorm, in near 80-degree temps. And I’ve met the most wonderful people. Individuals who care deeply about this country. People who value freedom, democracy, justice, peace, their neighbors… We bring our signs, sharing whatever concerns us, whatever we want the public to read. Some bring American, Minnesota state and peace flags. And this past Saturday, a man wore an inflatable frog costume. A passing motorist brought us doughnuts.
We stand united, overwhelmingly supported by those who drive by, waving, giving us the thumbs up, honking their horns. But, of course, we are also flipped off, have profanities shouted at us, and are threatened by drivers of over-sized pickup trucks who drive dangerously close and fast, rolling coal. They are attempting to intimidate us into silence.
And then there was the driver who last week slowed and shouted, “You need to find Jesus!” I held a sign with a message to love each other. A young man next to me held a “peace, not war” sign. I believe Jesus would have approved of our signs.
FLAGSHIP PROTEST IN THE TWIN CITIES
This Saturday we will hold our signs again in Faribault. To the north in the Twin Cities, protesters will gather at noon to march from three sites in St. Paul to the Minnesota State Capitol. The Twin Cities is the flagship location for the March 28 NO KINGS Day protest. At 2 p.m., an impressive line-up will lead a rally. Those include Senator Bernie Sanders, Jane Fonda, Joan Baez, Maggie Rogers, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan, and the boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. The musician will perform his anti-ICE song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”
In the words of Springsteen, “We will take our stand for this land.” We will raise our voices. From the small towns and cities of the Heartland, from rural and urban areas coast-to-coast, Americans will rise up and peacefully protest. Unified in purpose. Determined. Standing strong.
FYI: To learn more about the Thursday protests on I-35 bridges, click here. To find a NO KINGS Day protest location near you, click here.
ADDITIONALLY, the people of the Twin Cities have been awarded the 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for their actions during the massive federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Click here to learn more about that award, which will be presented at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on May 31. So proud of you, Twin Cities, and all other Minnesotans who stepped up, helped, protested, etc. during Operation Metro Surge. That includes right here in my community of Faribault.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
In appreciation of those protesting in rural areas on No Kings Day March 27, 2026
Tags: commentary, democracy, Minnesota, No Kings Day, opinion, protesting, protests, resistance, rural Minnesota, small towns
ON THIS, THE DAY before nationwide No Kings Day protests, I want to pause and thank the many people in small towns, in the most rural of regions, who are standing up for democracy. Media attention tomorrow will focus on protests in big cities. That coverage is expected. But equally as important are the rallies in communities of a couple hundred or several thousand deep in red territory.
In these places, publicly standing against the Trump administration takes, simply put, guts. Everyone knows everyone in small towns and it’s not necessarily easy to be politically at odds with one another. These are the people you see at the post office, worship with, meet for coffee, work beside, live next door to, do business with.
When those who oppose Trump, his administration and policies protest in rural Republican strongholds, they expose themselves as “the other.” Yet, it is this very public act of defiance and resistance which can get people thinking, start conversations, open doors to change. Now, more than ever, it’s important to fearlessly oppose tyranny. It’s important to stand up for freedom, voting rights, immigrants, justice, due process… It’s important to express concerns about the economy, the war in Iran, the overall state of this country.
Upon looking at a map of all the No Kings Day protest sites in Minnesota, I found many in rural areas. From Madison, population 1,500 and the self-proclaimed “Lutefisk Capital of the USA” near the South Dakota border, to Baudette, population 1,100 and the “Walleye Capital of the World” near the Canadian border, Minnesotans will gather. Even in my deeply red home county of Redwood in southwestern Minnesota, a protest is planned in the county seat of Redwood Falls.
In St. James, also in southwestern Minnesota and a town where I once lived and worked as a regional news reporter for the Mankato Free Press, a No Kings Day event is set. The community of 4,800 is home to many Hispanics and Latinos and was targeted by federal immigration enforcement agents during Operation Metro Surge.
Even Hackensack, in Paul Bunyan’s northern Minnesota lake country, is on the Saturday protest map. That town has a population of just under 300 as does Cyrus, near Morris in far western Minnesota, also holding a No Kings Day protest.
From my community of Faribault, with a population of around 25,000, to Kenyon to the east with some 1,800 residents, to the small towns of Rushford, St. Charles, Spring Grove and Preston in the far southeastern corner of Minnesota, and many small towns and cities across the state, people will gather in protest on Saturday.
In St. Paul, organizers are expecting up to 100,000 to rally at the state capitol. Those are some impressive numbers. Yet, if even five people show up in a small town to protest, that’s impressive, too.
Every voice of resistance matters, wherever you live, rural, suburban or urban.
FYI: The Faribault No Kings Day protest is from 11 a.m.-noon March 28 (and every Saturday) by the Rice County government services building along Minnesota State Highway 60.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling