Fact check: How many people attended the no kings protests

1. Summary of the results

The exact number of participants in the No Kings protests varies by source, but most estimates fall between 4-6 million nationwide. The ACLU and Move On consistently report over 5 million participants across more than 2,100 rallies ^{[1] [2]}. A crowdsourced estimate from Strength In Numbers suggests between 4-6 million attendees, with preliminary data from 40% of events showing 2.6 million participants ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

• The protests occurred across approximately 2,000 cities and towns in the United States ^[2]
• City-specific numbers show significant variations between sources:

Los Angeles: Reports range from "tens of thousands" ^[1] to 200,000 ^[4]

New York City: Between 50,000 ^[1] and 75,000 ^[5]

Philadelphia: Between 80,000 ^[5] and 100,000 ^[6]

The Crowd Counting Consortium has indicated that a complete and accurate count would take time to compile ^[1]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

• The simple question of "how many" overlooks the complexity of counting large-scale, nationwide protests
• Different stakeholders may have different motivations for reporting higher or lower numbers:

Protest organizers and supporting organizations (ACLU, Move On) consistently report higher numbers of 5+ million ^{[2] [1]}

Media outlets tend to be more conservative in their estimates, using terms like "tens of thousands" rather than specific numbers ^[1]

• The most neutral source appears to be the crowdsourced data from Strength In Numbers, which provides a range rather than a specific number and acknowledges its preliminary nature ^[3]