Champaign County Indivisible plans to hold its third local “No Kings” demonstration Saturday outside the Champaign County Courthouse in downtown Urbana, as part of a nationwide day of protest against the Trump administration, according to a press release from the group.
“No Kings 3” is scheduled for Saturday from 1-3 p.m. The event will include live music, speeches, a Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam costume contest and a march through downtown Urbana.
The protest is part of a National Day of Action, which local organizers say includes more than 3,000 events across the country. Organizers describe the demonstrations as a response to “authoritarian power grabs,” with a stated goal of defending freedom.
“Locally, No Kings 3 spotlights a community unified by concern for the Constitution and for one another,” wrote Champaign County Indivisible co-lead Jeff Dougan. “We’re sending a simple message: We don’t do dictators or kings in America.”
Dougan wrote that the event is meant to bring people together in resistance rather than fear, adding that celebration itself can serve as “an act of resistance.”
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The demonstration comes after two earlier local No Kings protests that drew large crowds outside the courthouse.
In June 2025, thousands gathered in Urbana for the first local event, rallying and marching through downtown. Protesters carried signs, waved flags and listened to speeches condemning the Trump administration and what speakers described as growing authoritarianism.
A second local No Kings protest in October 2025 criticized the administration’s immigration policy and cuts to social services and education. Demonstrators condemned the administration’s deployment of troops to major cities to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
President Donald Trump responded to the previous protests by denying the “king” role.
“You know – they’re referring to me as a king,” Trump said in an interview with BBC in October. “I’m not a king.”
Encyclopedia Britannica has stated that, across the United States, four to six million people attended the June 2025 protests and nearly seven million attended the October 2025 protests.
Local co-sponsors for the upcoming protest include the ACLU of Champaign County, ACLU of Illinois, the University chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Champaign County Democrats, Champaign Federation of Teachers, Champaign-Urbana Resistance Effort, Indivisible Illinois, Mahomet Democrats, Mahomet Persisterhood, Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition Local 6456 and Starbucks Workers United.
