Fact check: Who coordinated the no kings protest

1. Summary of the results

The No Kings protests were coordinated by a large coalition of over 200 organizations ^[1], with key players including:

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• MoveOn
• American Federation of Teachers
• Communications Workers of America
• The 50501 movement
• Indivisible (led by Ezra Levin)

The scale of the protests was massive, with estimates ranging from 5 million participants across 2,100 rallies ^[2] to 12.2 million participants across 2,000 events ^[1], with Philadelphia hosting the flagship event.

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

Several important contextual elements were missing from the original question:

• The protests were organized on a distributed, viral basis with local communities driving their own events ^[3], rather than having centralized control
• The "No Kings" theme was specifically created by the 50501 movement ^[1]
• The protests had a specific political aim: opposing the Trump administration's policies and asserting that "no individual is above the law" ^[1]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question implies a single coordinating entity, which oversimplifies the reality of this massive grassroots movement. Several groups benefit from different narratives about the protests:

• Progressive organizations benefit from emphasizing the grassroots, distributed nature of the protests to demonstrate broad public support
• Labor unions and established organizations (like ACLU, AFT) benefit from highlighting their role in the coordination to demonstrate their continued relevance and influence
• The 50501 movement benefits from being recognized as the creator of the "No Kings" theme
• Local community groups benefit from emphasizing their autonomous role in organizing individual events