No Kings 3 Turns Out Locals from Across the DMV
The No Kings 3 Day-of-Action mobilized millions of people across the country. Our team collected data through a field survey at a No Kings 3 demonstration in Washington, DC on 3/28/2026. Data were collected as people assembled to rally and march over the Frederick Douglass Bridge in Washington, DC (this event was expected to be the largest of the 4 events planned for the day inside the District of Columbia and listed on the No Kings 3 map and turned out thousands of participants).
Our data show that the protest in DC mobilized people who came predominantly from the local area: approximately 85% of respondents reported a home zip code within the District of Columbia, and 13% of them were from Ward 8 (where the protest took place) or an adjacent Ward. Although the city attracts protestors from all over the country, No Kings 3 was peopled by locals. The event was organized by the local group–FreeDC–and was cosponsored by a number of unions. The data we collected at the event provides evidence that local organizations can mobilize local solidarity through events like No Kings 3. The impact of this localization of protest is that the protest is more representative of the issues and organizations that construct the immediate political landscape. It also allows for a greater ability for local organizations to recruit.
