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ST. PAUL, Minn. – When anti-Trump protesters took to the streets across the country in late March for rallies branded as “No Kings,” CNN reported that anti-Trump protests had “popped up” nationwide, including at the Minnesota State Capitol.
But a Fox News Digital investigation reveals that nine vendors were paid an estimated $250,000 to build a professionally-sophisticated protest infrastructure behind the “flagship” event held in St. Paul, and a former Obama and Biden administration political and communications strategist, Roger Fisk, took credit for being the “Senior Advisor to the #NoKings flagship event,” fine-tuning the “art and science” of throwing the protest, along with two other “No Kings” protests last year.
The machine behind the protest included deploying about 30 semi-trucks to deliver concert-level equipment, a massive mobile stage, nearly a mile of heavy-duty feeder cable used to distribute electricity throughout the rally site, scores of porta-toilets and folding chairs, eight jumbo screens, high-speed internet and bike-rack barriers to keep the crowds away from the stage, filled with bold-faced celebrities including rock star Bruce Springsteen, actress Jane Fonda and singer Joan Baez.
The operation amounted to a massive buildout that resembled the setup for an outdoor music festival or Def Leppard concert, according to the event’s vendors, most of whom requested anonymity.
The logistical details behind the event illustrate how modern protests increasingly resemble professionally produced public events rather than spontaneous grassroots demonstrations. The investigation reveals a rare behind-the-scenes view of the infrastructure, funding and logistics that power the modern day protest industry, details organizers rarely disclose.
500 GROUPS WITH $3B IN REVENUES ARE BEHIND THE #NOKINGS PROTESTS AND COMMUNIST CALL FOR ‘REVOLUTION’
Professional vendors supplied the bike-rack barriers, tents and jumbo video screens at the No Kings protest on March 28, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn., outside the State Capitol. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
As Fox News Digital previously reported, about 500 organizations with an estimated $3 billion in annual revenues sponsored, endorsed and participated in the nationwide protest. The network includes stalwart Democratic nonprofits including Indivisible, MoveOn and the ACLU, which have received millions of dollars over the years from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society philanthropies.
Another network tied to the protests includes pro-communist groups, like the People’s Forum, CodePink, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, backed by American-born tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai, promoting messaging aligned with the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping and the People’s Republic of China. Notably, anti-American rhetoric from China labeling the United States as “fascist,” “rogue,” and “autocratic” has been parroted by these groups and surfaced as a recurring theme in the St. Paul protest, where communist and socialist organizations flew the flags of Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Singham didn’t respond to a request for comment.
POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM
A variety of international flags are hoisted by demonstrators at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on March 28, 2026. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
It’s understood that Indivisible footed most of the bill for the St. Paul protest, sources said.
Nancy Snow, author of the book, “Propaganda and Persuasion,” told Fox News Digital that it’s important to follow the money on all aspects of political communication, including protests.
“We are in an age of cognitive warfare, in which there is a competition to shape how people think, and it’s always important to follow the money because it tells you who is setting the agenda and amplifying the message,” she said. “Following the money doesn’t automatically invalidate the grievances of citizens who show up for a protest. Both things can be true at once.”
About 24 hours before demonstrators arrived with signs calling the U.S. a “fascist” nation, a different scene unfolded on the Capitol grounds, with semi-trucks loaded with equipment rolling into the State Capitol.
‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS, BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY
Matt Svobodny, production manager at Slamhammer Sound & Roadcase Co. stands in front of the stage that he and his crew set up for the “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, Minn. (Fox News Digital)
“You need a platform for people to stand on and a way for people to be seen and heard in order to reach everybody,” Matt Svobodny, a production manager with Slamhammer Sound & Roadcase Co., a live-event production company based in nearby St. Louis Park, Minn., told Fox News Digital.
“And, in order to do that, you need professionals that know what they’re doing and are going to do it also safe for all the people…,” he said. “So you can’t just have people with good intentions and no idea what they’re doing.”
A longtime professional, Svobodny provided a rare warehouse tour of the elements required to make the protest happen.
Svobodny said crews began physical setup around 8 a.m. Friday and continued working until after midnight, returning in early morning. Along with the mobile concert stage and cable, the system they assembled included about 100 speakers and extensive lighting equipment. Three vendors supplied eight large video screens across the Capitol grounds so people far from the stage at the far end near Martin Luther King Boulevard could see the speakers.
Additional delay speakers were positioned farther back from the stage so that speeches would remain synchronized across the large audience area, he said. For security reasons, the stage was partially fitted with ballistic bullet-resistant glass to protect the speakers.
“It has all the elements and infrastructure of a music festival,” Svobodny said.
Permit records, obtained by Fox News Digital, identify the organizing entity for the event as the “No Kings Coalition and Indivisible Twin Cities.” Indivisible is the brand name for several powerful Democratic groups: Indivisible Action, a political action committee; Indivisible Project, a 501(c)(4) with $10.4 million in revenues; and Indivisible Action, a 501(c)(3) with $5.2 million in revenues.
The permit application listed a local leader, Kris Ragozzino, as the applicant and described the rally as a program including “speakers, artists and musicians.” The production itself relied on a network of specialized vendors, each responsible for a different component of the rally’s infrastructure.
- Slamhammer Sound & Roadcase Co., based in St. Louis Park, Minn., was the main event vendor, handling the Stageline SL320 40-foot mobile stage, sound system with 100 speakers, lighting, 1,700-feet of 220-volt feeder cable and ballistic bullet-resistant barriers, while coordinating the overall production setup and contracting with subvendors. Estimated cost: $100,000
- Fire Up Video supplied four large video screens placed along Martin Luther King Boulevard at the far end away from the protest. Estimated cost: $20,000
- Algorithm, an audiovisual production company based in Minnesota, provided two additional jumbo screens positioned on the sides of the rally. On its Instagram page, Algorithm featured its screens, hauled to the protest by massive trucks, in a video from the day with the message, “Can you feel it?” Estimated cost: $25,000
- Common World Productions Inc. provided two more LED jumbo video screens mounted directly on the stage. Estimated cost: $10,000
- Warning Lites of Minnesota, a Minneapolis company that provides traffic control and event safety equipment, supplied crowd-control bike-rack barricades separating the stage from the crowd. Estimated cost: $15,000
- E5 Energy, based in Savage, Minn., provided electrical power to the stage and screens with generators and distribution equipment. It also installed cable ramps to cover the high-voltage power lines as pedestrians crossed over them. Estimated cost: $15,000
- Ultimate Events, based in Plymouth, Minn., supplied an estimated 10 large high-peak tents for staging areas and operations. It also provided “black plastic frame folding chairs,” typically priced at $2.80 per chair on its website, and tables. Estimated cost: $30,000
- On Site Companies, based in St. Paul, provided about 300 porta-toilets. Estimated cost: $25,000
- Fast Kat Connects, based in Minneapolis, provided high-speed internet connection for the organizers. Estimated cost: $10,000
The estimated total for the logistical expenses was $250,000, sources said.
PR expert Roger Fisk poses for a profile shoot during FICCI Frames 2014 on March 20, 2014, in Mumbai, India. He has been described as a political campaign, marketing and media strategist credited with playing a key behind-the-scenes role in Barack Obama’s presidential wins in 2008 and 2012. He also worked in the Biden administration. He is now a self-described “Senior Advisor” with Indivisible, organizing its “No Kings” protests. ( (PhAbhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images)
Svobodny said he worked mostly with Ragozzino and Roger Fisk, a former advance man for presidential trips in the Obama and Biden administrations. In a post on LinkedIn after the protest, Fisk described himself as a “Senior Advisor to the #NoKings flagship event.”
In the post, Fisk recalled the “complexity” of organizing the event, noting, “Add to that satellite trucks, cable runs, ballistic glass, road closures, most of the bike rack [sic] in North America, risk monitoring and threat analysis, bridge construction, Springsteen, a kaleidoscope of law enforcement, and staffs of elected officials, security details, and other celebrities that require specific care and respect. The final week was 4 am to 9-10-11 pm…”
E5 Energy supplied the generators and electricity to power the “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, Minn. Ultimate Events provided the canvas tents. (Asra Q. Nomani/Fox News Digital)
Fisk added that “we have learned so much together in developing the art and science of these massive pro-democracy public engagements.” Ragozzino, Fisk and Indivisible co-founders Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Fisk bluntly acknowledged the protests were staged for the cameras for maximum media coverage, which public relations officials call “earned media,” a buzzword for free press coverage. “Earned media is my main metric,” Fisk wrote, “and our content reached between a quarter and a half billion impressions in the 24 hours after the events, with our flagship event leading the way.”
In his LinkedIn profile, Fisk writes that he worked this past year as a consultant to Indivisible and its three earlier “No Kings” protests, saying he “developed thematic strategies and program frameworks for Indivisible’s three pro-democracy mobilizations, engaging 15 million people across every state and 22 countries coordinating messaging across messaging networks.” He didn’t disclose how much he had been paid.
COMMUNISTS, DEMOCRATS USE #NOKINGS RALLY TO CALL FOR MAY DAY STRIKE: ‘SHUT IT DOWN’
Snow, the former director of the New Hampshire chapter of Common Cause, a progressive group, said that “sunshine is the best disinfectant” and encourages organizations to be more transparent about the obvious logistical heavy-lifting it takes to throw a protest.
In his company’s warehouse, as crews cleaned the stage, Svobodny considered the event a success, in part because the vendors went unnoticed by the media. “Hopefully, most people didn’t even think about us,” he said.
“I mean, in some ways, kind of, the goal of us or myself is to, like, not even be noticed.”
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Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.
