MINNEAPOLIS — Statewide protests against the Trump administration proceeded as planned Saturday, despite a State Patrol advisory to the public not to attend the rallies “out of an abundance of caution” following the shootings of two Democratic state lawmakers.

State Rep. Melissa Hortman, a former House speaker, was shot and killed along with her husband early Saturday in what Gov. Tim Walz said appeared to be a targeted act of political violence. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were shot several times and transported to a hospital.

Dozens of protests were planned Saturday across Minnesota, part of a nationwide demonstration against the Trump administration. The “No Kings” demonstrations coincide with President Donald Trump’s planned military parade for the Army’s 250th anniversary, which also falls on the president’s birthday and Flag Day.

Rallies continued as planned in St. Paul, Duluth and Rochester. In St. Cloud, organizers canceled their planned demonstration in an “effort to promote public safety,” according to St. Cloud Police Chief Jeff Oxton.

Despite the warnings about attending the rallies, more than 100 people still gathered in northeast Minneapolis for a planned protest, organizer Mary Lillestol said. “People are just so fed up with the sense of fear,” she said.

Officials with Indivisible Twin Cities, which helped organize the demonstrations, issued a statement saying they were “horrified by these acts of unspeakable political violence. We mourn with the state and the families.”

Heather Friedli, an organizer with Minnesota 50501, said event organizers had trained hundreds of volunteers, including crowd de-escalators and medics, to work at the event in St. Paul. Women’s March Minnesota and the Minnesota AFL-CIO were the other organizations largely responsible for organizing the demonstrations.

Information about the protests has circulated on social media throughout the week, as well as at other local demonstrations.

Thousands were expected to attend the rally at the State Capitol, which began with a march from St. Paul College down John Ireland Boulevard. The marchers included Pat Day and his wife, Pat, of Minnetonka, who said they were making their first ever political march because they “just couldn’t tolerate it anymore.” The couple said they were moderately concerned for their safety, but not enough to skip the march.

Recent University of Minnesota graduate Andrew Seo and his friend, Maria Garrido-Lavender, said they were at the rally to support immigrants. Seo’s parents immigrated from Korea, and he said that immigrants he knew had been targeted in ICE raids and deported.

Wearing matching T-shirts that read “Abolish ICE keep families together,” Marcus and Kat Mazurowski of Philadelphia said they stopped in St. Paul to attend the rally while traveling to North Dakota to see family. They were drawn to the rally because of “unprecedented attacks on our democracy, lack of due process for all, human rights violations,” said Marcus. “It’s great to see so many people out.”

Holly Zschokke and her son, Carlos Rosas, said they attended the rally because of family. Holly’s husband immigrated from Mexico and became a citizen, but the reports of families being torn apart by ICE raids have felt deeply personal, she said: “It’s an attack on my whole family.” Rosas said he wants to see democratic norms restored. “I want America to be what America was back in the day,” he said.

In Rochester, where more than 1,000 people attended the rally, Krisanne Novak said she was “totally disgusted” with the Trump administration’s actions against immigrants and concerned the administration could turn into a dictatorship. She called the shootings of the two lawmakers “terroristic.”

“I don’t want to die knowing I hadn’t made any effort to stop this,” said Novak, 69. “I don’t feel very powerful, but at least I can do this.”

Brenda Howe, 54, who recently moved to Rochester, said she went to the rally in hopes of getting a better world for her grandchildren. “The things that are working right now have everything to do with money,” she said, referring to protests against companies who dropped diversity, equity and inclusion policies. “We stood together, and it was because of the money that they made the change.”

Ewan Finnie, 16, a junior at Mayo High School, said he doesn’t agree with anything Trump says. “Everybody’s equal, and everyone deserves rights,” he said.

Annie Jurrens, 35, of Plainview, said she was worried that the shootings Saturday will scare progressive candidates from running for office. “We need good people to stand up and to be willing to be in these positions of leadership,” she said.

The shootings had an effect on several protesters who declined to comment publicly on the Trump administration’s actions. A man who said his name was Peter carried an American flag resembling one used during the Revolutionary War. “People flew this flag the last time they tried to resist a king,” he said.

Another woman, citing fear for her safety, declined to give her name but said she hoped the rallies will convince some Republican lawmakers to stand in solidarity against Trump’s actions and the “culture of violence” she said his followers have fomented.

Kim Morales, 29, of Rochester, said she came with her friends to march in the rally for people who couldn’t attend or were too afraid. “We are the voices of change,” she said. “We cannot stay silent.”

Seda Heng, 29, of Rochester, said she was heartbroken by the news of the two shootings. “These people are trying to do what they can for their communities, for the state, for the nation,” Heng said.

Many of the rallygoers proceeded to the local NAACP Juneteenth celebration at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, where they heard Rochester City Council President Randy Schubring call Hortman’s death a tragedy.

“As a public official, we live in fear,” he said. “We are living every day with more caution. As public officials, we’re there to do work for you. We will continue to be courageous and work towards the public good.”

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, a former state representative and a friend of Hortman’s, said she had a broken heart. “Our country is broken, and so I’m asking all of us to stand together,” she said.

Rochester NAACP president Wale Elegbede told the crowd he planned to continue the marches as part of future Juneteenth celebrations. “When people speak up and people speak out, some people get hurt. But it’s extremely important to keep your eyes on the prize,” he said.

Elegbede said after he didn’t realize the State Patrol had urged people to stay home from rallies, but he would have still called for Juneteenth to continue and that Rochester officers were providing security. “People here in the community, when you stay home you allow the hateful cowards ... to win.“ he said.

Upward of 1,500 people in Duluth marched along the Lakewalk from Leif Erickson Park to the heart of downtown. Lee Stuart, 71, wore a sun hat decorated with a wreath of small American flags that flapped on the windy morning. News of Saturday’s shootings, Stuart said, “deepens my concerns for our country. Stop the threats and intimidation and bring back civility.“

Callie Thompson, 67, of Duluth, carried a Trump figure with a toilet brush for its hair. She was at the rally with two grandchildren. “I want my kids to see citizens in action when they are upset,” she said.

Janet Ryan of Minneapolis, who wore a Burger King crown festooned with joker cards, is spending the summer in Duluth and was drawn to the event to protest Trump’s treatment of people and the polarization of the military. “You have to fight for neighbors and friends,” she said.

Superior Street in downtown Duluth teemed with flags and honking, and the crowd grew to thousands as the afternoon went on. A woman with a megaphone led a chant of “This is what democracy looks like” and “Hey hey/ Ho ho/Donald Trump has got to go.”

Cassandra Carlson, 30, of the Duluth area led chants over a microphone at the corner of Superior and Lake Avenue. “As a sexual assault survivor I was always speak out against the rapist in power,” she said. She found the rally empowering and planned to stay on the corner as long as people were around.

“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “It’s powerful. It gives me hope for the future.”

(Intern Emmy Martin of The Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.)

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