A more accurate listing of protests and demonstrations in the United States by size

“Hundreds gather in San Francisco ‘No Kings’ protest | KTVU”

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No Kings! protest in San Francisco on June 14, 2025 (ZontaPhotos.com)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The right to assemble is recognized as a human right and protected in the First Amendment of the US Constitution under the clause, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”^[1]

Widespread mass protest became a distinct characteristic of American civic engagement during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The rate of mass protests has risen exponentially since the mid-2010s thanks in part to the sudden and widespread availability of smartphones as well as the social media revolution, which has allowed for instant and widespread communication and planning. Each of the top ten attended protests in the United States has occurred since 1970 and four of the top five have occurred since the start of the first Donald Trump administration in 2017.

Counting methodology

In 1995, the National Park Service estimated that 400,000 people attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., the official count for the event.^[2] The organizers said that more than a million people turned out, and they threatened to sue the Park Service unless it revised its estimate. Congress, in response, barred the agency from producing any more crowd estimates.^[3]

Since then, official crowd estimates for organized political protests, demonstrations, and marches have relied on an amalgam of police data, organizer estimates, the research of crowd scientists, and journalists.^[4]

List

This section lists one-day protest events in the United States with at least 100,000 participants.

Rows shaded in yellow indicates the protest happened in multiple cities simultaneously across the United States.

Rank	Name	Attendance	City	Territory	Year	Issue
1	George Floyd protests	500,000[5] 15,000,000–26,000,000 (multi-day)[nb 1]	Nationwide	USA	2020	Police brutality, First presidency of Donald Trump
2	Earth Day	20,000,000[6]	Nationwide	USA	1970	Environmental protection
3	No Kings protests	More than 5,000,000 [7][8]	Nationwide	USA	2025	Second presidency of Donald Trump
4	Hands Across America	5,000,000[9]	Nationwide	USA	1986	Poverty
5	2017 Women’s March	3,300,000–4,600,000[10][11]	Nationwide	USA	2017	Feminism
6	Hands Off protests	250,000–5,000,000[12][13][14][15]	Nationwide	USA	2025	Second presidency of Donald Trump (political corruption; anti-DOGE)
7	March for Our Lives	1,200,000–2,000,000[16][17][18][19]	Nationwide	USA	2018	Gun control
8	2018 Women’s March	1,500,000[20]	Nationwide	USA	2018	Feminism
9	#RickyRenuncia	1,100,000[21]	San Juan	Puerto Rico	2019	Anti-corruption; see Telegramgate
10	Great American Boycott	1,000,000[22]	Nationwide	USA	2006	Immigrant rights
11	March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation	800,000–1,000,000[23][24]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1993	LGBT rights
12	Anti-nuclear weapon march, part of the Nuclear Freeze campaign	700,000–1,000,000[25][26]	New York City	New York	1982	Anti-nuclear
13	Million Man March	670,000–800,000[27]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1995	Anti-racism
14	March for Women’s Lives	500,000–1,000,000[28][29]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	2004	Feminism
15	Million Mom March	750,000[30]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	2000	Gun control
16	March for Science	400,000–1,000,000[31][32][better source needed]	Nationwide	USA	2017	Science
17	March for Life	400,000–650,000 (2013 estimate from rally organizers)[33][34]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	2013	Anti abortion
18	Million Woman March	500,000[35]	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1997	Black feminism
19	Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam	500,000[36]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1969	Anti-Vietnam War
20	March on Washington for Gaza	100,000–400,000+[37][38]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	2024	Free Palestine movement
21	People’s Climate March	311,000–400,000[39][40]	New York City	New York	2014	Climate change
22	September 2019 climate strikes	315,000[41]	New York City	New York	2019	Climate change
23	Tea Party Tax Day protests	311,000[42]	Nationwide	USA	2009	Fiscal conservatism
24	March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom	250,000–300,000[43][44]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1963	Civil rights
25	Solidarity Day march	250,000–260,000[45][46]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1981	Labor rights
26	20th Anniversary March on Washington	250,000[47]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1983	Civil rights
27	February 15 Iraq war protests	200,000–375,000[48][49]	New York City	New York	2003	Anti-Iraq War
28	Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear	215,000[50]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	2010	Civil discourse
29	March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights	200,000[51]	Washington D.C.	District of Columbia	1987	LGBT rights
30	National March on Washington: Free Palestine	100,000–300,000[52][53]	Washington D. C.	District of Columbia	2023	Free Palestine movement
31	March for Israel	100,000–290,000[54][55]	Washington D. C.	District of Columbia	2023	Pro-Israel March
32	2015 Armenian March for Justice	130,000+[56]	Los Angeles	California	2015	Armenian genocide recognition
33	Proposition 187 Protests	70,000[57]	Los Angeles	California	1994	Immigrant rights
34	1999 Seattle WTO protests	40,000	Seattle	Washington	1999	Anti-globalization

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_protests_and_demonstrations_in_the_United_States_by_size

(Contributed by JP Massar)