AMNA NAWAZ: Organizers said# some eight million people## showed up to the third nationwide# No Kings protest over the weekend.

Demonstrators at thousands of events# rallied against the war in Iran,## immigration enforcement, and what they see as# executive overreach by the Trump administration.

Judy Woodruff went to the protest# in Minnesota to explore how No Kings## fits into America's long history of protest.# It's for her series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It was a rally with big names and# an even bigger crowd.

Some 100,000 people marched## to the state capitol in St.

Paul on Saturday# dressed like kings and founding fathers,## carrying signs and speaking against an# administration they called tyrannical.

MAN: He's a dictator.

He's an# authoritarian.

What else can I say?

WOMAN: They're destroying our# democracy and choosing to do## whatever they want without any repercussions.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Organizers picked Minnesota as# the flagship No Kings protest following the## Trump administration's sweeping# immigration crackdown here.

For months, federal agents# repeatedly clashed with residents,## made thousands of arrests and killed two# U.S.

citizens; 34-year-old Miguel Hernandez,## whose parents are from Mexico, served# as a marshal during the protest.

MIGUEL HERNANDEZ, Owner, Lito's Burritos: A lot# of people are coming together, spreading all these## ideas that we -- yes, we should stand up against# tyrants, but we should make better communities.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Hernandez and his# family own two restaurants in the## Twin Cities.

And even though Operation# Metro Surge has technically ended,## he says both residents and# businesses continue to struggle.

MIGUEL HERNANDEZ: Some of these restaurants last# 80 percent of their clientele for four months.## Some of their staff members aren't coming back# too.

To see that bloodshed on the streets that## I call home, the streets that I drive past every# day that's a great trauma a lot of us felt here.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But Hernandez says No Kings is# about more than what's happened in Minnesota.

MIGUEL HERNANDEZ: I'd love for more folks# to say, in the face of authoritarianism,## yes, you might risk something, but, at the end of# the day, you will be helping someone.

Step out of## your comfort level and push back on something# that will ultimately get worse if we do not.

COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER, Brown# University: What these moments## call for are citizen action.# That's the thing tha.. not the traditional story of the three branches# of government, one branch checking another.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Corey Brettschneider is a political# scientist at Brown University.

His 2024 book,## "The Presidents and the People," tells# the story of five presidents who pushed## the boundaries of executive power# and the citizens who pushed back.

COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER: The sort of myth# that we often tell that all the framers## were believers in democracy is# not true.

There really was an## authoritarian current, an understanding# of the Constitution from very early on.

JUDY WOODRUFF: His first example is John Adams,## who used the Sedition Act of 1798 to prosecute# members of the press who criticized him.

COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER: Adams thought the# word republic was compatible actually## with monarchy.

The newspaper editors# who fight back against Adams really## use that moment in order to turn# the election of 1800 into at least## in part a referendum on the idea# of, is there a right to dissent?

JUDY WOODRUFF: Adams lost that# election to Thomas Jefferson.

Over the years, many presidents have been# depicted as kings, including Abraham Lincoln,## who during the Civil War suspended habeas# corpus, a person's right to challenge their## own detention.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was# also labeled a king for, among other things,## serving four terms as president and# attempting to pack the Supreme Court.

But Brettschneider says authoritarian only# accurately applies to a much smaller group.

COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER: Even if# numerically, it's far from a majority,## you really only need one to succeed.

In those# instances, we largely did fight back.

We did## recover.

But that's not a guarantee of the# future.

There's no law of political science## that says citizens defending the Constitution# from an authoritarian president will win out.

ADAM KASIM, Protester: I better be# out to fight for what I believe and## what the founders of America# stood for, for over 200 years.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I have been# thinking a lot about the men and women in## 1776 who announced to the world that they# would no longer be ruled by the king of## England.

Today in 2026, our message# is exactly the same, no more kings.

(CHEERING) JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think# of it in that vein or .. JOHN HINDERAKER, President, Center of the American# Experiment: I really don't.

I think that the## Democratic Party has a platform that consists# almost exclusively of hating Donald Trump.

JUDY WOODRUFF: John Hinderaker leads# the Center of the American Experiment,## a conservative think tank in the Twin Cities.

JOHN HINDERAKER: These people are election# deniers.

They have never accepted the fact## that Donald Trump won the 2024 election.# He was selected by the American people to## be the president.

He's entitled to act as the# president.

Every single thing he does, they## automatically oppose.

And they -- the resistance# movement started before he was even inaugurated.

They really know Trump is not a dictator.

Trump# is not a king.

It's perfectly safe to go out there## and call Trump all the horrible names you want to# call him, because he is not, in fact, a dictator.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cally Proctor is a mom and writer## in Minneapolis.

She voted# for President Trump in 2024.

CALLY PROCTOR, Minneapolis Resident:# We have a president who still is held## accountable by things like elections, by# things like courts, by things like other## branches of the government and systems# that are still working and operating.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Proctor says she saw government# overreach while President Biden was in office,## especially around COVID restrictions.

Do you think what happened during the Biden## administration is equivalent# to what we're seeing now?

CALLY PROCTOR: I do.

And I know a lot of people# -- I know that a lot of people do as well,## but it just -- I think that if you talk to# people who are at the No Kings rally, they say,## why are you here, I think that it would be# ironically very similar to my own concerns.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Cara Schulz is a libertarian who## serves on the city council in the# Twin Cities suburb of Burnsville.

Around 2009, Schulz attended Tea Party# protests against government spending## and President Obama's health# care policies.

And this year,## she was on the front lines as# Minnesotans confronted federal agents.

CARA SCHULZ, Burnsville, Minnesota, City# Council: We had armed masked men coming## into our neighborhoods and lobbing# tear gas.

But that is what government## power looks like.

It's just how in# your face it's going to be or not.

We have seen this over and over and# over through our country's history,## but most of the time most of us are# able to turn away.

And we're at a## point where it is so pervasive in our# communities that we can't turn away.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Still, Schulz has not# participated in No Kings protests.

CARA SCHULZ: A lot of the messaging is very# Trump-specific, as if he is only the problem,## and if he's replaced with someone# else the problem goes away.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says her biggest concern is# that authoritarianism has become normalized.## According to preliminary results from a# 2025 survey, about a third of U.S.

adults## believe having a strong leader for America# is more important than having a democracy.

But during Saturday's protests at least,# that idea was nowhere to be found.

It's a No Kings rally.

What does that say to you?

KATELYN THOMAS, Protester: Democracy.# I mean, that's what this country was## founded on.

And I love this country.# I don't want to see that go away.

MIGUEL HERNANDEZ: There's been a lot of people# who've done this in the past and it's kept## America from tilting too far in the direction of# authoritarian government.

And I think it should## always be that way.

And we should always --# our government should listen to the people.

MAN: Thank you, Minnesota!

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS News Hour,"# I'm Judy Woodruff in St.

Paul, Minnesota.