On June 14, an estimated 3,200 people marched through downtown Eau Claire in the first No Kings rally — CVI’s largest mobilization yet, nearly doubling the Hands Off turnout from just two months earlier.

The march was part of a nationwide day of action, but the Chippewa Valley made it its own. The message was clear: no one is above the law, and no one gets to be king in a democracy.

WEAU, WQOW, and Civic Media covered the event. What no one knew yet was that this was just the first chapter — No Kings would return twice more, each time bigger, becoming the defining mobilization arc of CVI’s first two years.