South Carolina, THANK YOU! We are in awe of how many of you showed up at No Kings last Saturday to volunteer, to support, and to make your voices heard.
Thank you to all of our volunteers, groups, and organizations that carpooled and coordinated from across the state to make it to Columbia, and to our whole team of volunteer organizers who worked tirelessly to share their time, talents, and resources to make 10/18 such an impactful day.
We made a powerful statement, with millions across the nation gathering to stand in solidarity against the authoritarian takeover of our country. Thousands of South Carolinians joined together to rally at the State House and march to the Governor’s Mansion to protest McMaster’s complicity in the Trump Regime’s treasonous activities and trampling of human rights. Thousands more gathered at events across the state, from small groups of 5 to groups of thousands.
On October 18th, we made it clear that we will not be silent, we will not bend the knee, and we will stand together in numbers they cannot ignore.
By the Numbers
The numbers are in and we are so proud of you SC!
At the State House in Columbia: 17,000 people
In Charleston: 3,200 attendees
In Myrtle Beach: 3,000 attendees
In Greenwood today (10/25/25): At least 85 attendees!
Greenwood hosted their No Kings event today so they could support the statewide push to Columbia on 10/18, and then they still got out and had their own!
And — after hearing from organizers of events across the state, we can confidently say — at least 38,450 people united across the state of South Carolina for No Kings Day on 10/18/25!
This statewide number includes rallies, protests, and demonstrations in Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, North Charleston, Summerville, Spartanburg, Newberry, Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head, Conway, Florence, Walterboro, Seneca, Rock Hill, Fort Mill, Indian Land, and Edisto Beach.
The 10/25/25 event in Greenwood has not yet been tallied or added to the final count. Other events around the state that we have not yet been able to verify are not included in our count.
Methodology
A note on crowd size
Still images rarely show the whole crowd at once, nor do they show how people move around or come and go. If someone can only come for half the rally, they should still be counted. This is why even video can be deceiving because what it shows is dependent on when it was captured. That’s part of why accurate counting can be a time-intensive process, and why time-lapse videos can be fascinating to watch and also be helpful for understanding the scope of events.
Columbia
Our counting team documented the Columbia event themselves and then spent 24+ hours parsing the data. They compared their documentation to publicly available sources and spent hours digging through information like street data, photos, videos, and drone footage. The data was then overlaid on tiles colored by density zones, and frankly — there’s a whole lot of math involved that is beyond this humble Comms team.
In Columbia, peak attendance (the most people in one place at the same time) was 16,000. When accounting for people who left early and came late, or who ran out of nearby businesses and buildings to cheer and chant with us — that number jumps to 17,000 with high confidence. There is a +/- 10% margin of error, so in the “worst case” scenario, when the Crowd Counting Consortium verifies our data, the total for Columbia will still be above 15,000.
Around South Carolina
Around the state, organizers submitted their numbers and information to our data team. Our team then compared those numbers to publicly available data (street data, photos, videos, etc).
Each event was submitted to the Crowd Counting Consortium separately.
All Together Now
The counts from each event were tallied, bringing us to a statewide number of 38,450 people protesting at a No Kings event on 10/18/25 in South Carolina.
50501 🤝 Indivisible
50501 and Indivisible teamed up to co-host the Columbia event, and Indivisible Upstate was indispensable. From the planning process (and dozens of meetings and group chats!) to coordinating community carpools from the Upstate to bringing their volunteers and Superheroes — we’re grateful for our continued partnership.
50501 🤝 Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs - Midlands continues to be a force for good in the greater Columbia area. They are a mutual aid group that organizes to feed and clothe our unhoused neighbors, and we’re told it took two trips in a three-row vehicle for them to pack up all of the wonderful donations so many of you brought to the State House. They were able to immediately start distributing that aid directly to community members.
What’s Next?
We should all be proud of how we showed up for No Kings. Thousands of you were able to connect with local advocacy organizations, meet new like-minded friends, and learn more about how to fight back against the regime.
But simply protesting isn’t the answer. The work doesn’t end when you go home and put away your sign.
There is still so much to do, and with ICE still kidnapping people around the country and the ongoing federal shutdown set to abandon millions of people without SNAP benefits come November 1 — we need all hands on deck.
While the big protest days get a lot of coverage, the “smaller” stuff that happens day-to-day can be easy to miss. Our attention right now is on local, community-based actions. Our volunteers are working with food organizations to ensure we have an accurate resource list of places where folks can be fed and get their needs met. We’re also organizing groups to stand against the total abortion ban bill and other concerning legislation, as well as targeted boycotts and protests. We release information about these initiatives to our members and volunteers in Discord and Signal first, as well as on social media and right here on Substack.
Download “Red Cards” to carry with you. Ask local businesses if you can leave some there, give them to friends — spread the word
Pick at least one for the coming week: One Million Experiments: Some Actions That Are Not Protesting or Voting
Download and use this PDF Action Guide
Get familiar with the United States Constitution
Erica Chenoweth’s TEDx Talk: The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance
Learn more about the political landscape we’re organizing in, how we can build power together, and what we need to do to create change with this library of Mass Calls hosted by the Working Families Party.
Volunteer with us! Start by joining our Discord👇
State House Speakers and Partners
Review the lists of our No Kings partners and speakers below. Research the organizations and causes that speak to your heart, and throw your time and support behind their mission. Everyone could use more community support 🫶
Hosts
50501 SC
50501sc.org
50501 National
www.fiftyfifty.one/
Indivisible Upstate
indivisibleupstatesc.org
Indivisible National
indivisible.org
Partners & Tabling Organizations
The Nickelodeon Theater
A huge thank you to the Nickelodeon Theater for use of their bathrooms for the march! While rally attendees were able to use the State House bathrooms, the Nickelodeon Theater helped make the march more accessible. nickelodeon.org50501 Augusta facebook.com/50501augustaga
50501 Veterans 50501vets.com
Greenville Progressive Coalition resistgvl.com
Food Not Bombs Midlands instagram.com/fnb_midlands
General Strike US - Carolinas https://linktr.ee/generalstrikecarolinas
Palmetto State Abortion Fund (PSAF) palmettostateabortionfund.com
Moms Demand Action momsdemandaction.org
Better Ballot SC betterballotsc.org
Carolina Peace carolinapeace.wordpress.com
SCEA Midlands thescea.org
United Campus Workers SC ucwsc.org
League of Women Voters my.lwv.org/south-carolina-state
Veterans For All Voters veteransforallvoters.org
SC Jobs with Justice facebook.com/scjwj
Labor Party, South Carolina Chapter votelabor.org
Charleston Democratic Socialists of America charlestondsa.org
SC Revolutionary Communists of America instagram.com/colacommunists
SC Party for Socialism and Liberation instagram.com/southcarolinapsl
Richland County Democratic Party richlandscdems.com
Young Dems of Central Midlands ydofcm.com
Speakers - Rally
Sam Gibbons
50501 South Carolina State Liaison
Lawrence Moore
Chair, Carolina For All, carolinaforall.org
Will David McCorkle
Immigration Advocate/Educator-Charleston, facebook.com/willdavid11
Profitt
50501 SC Organizer
Lynn Teague
VP of League of Women Voters of South Carolina, my.lwv.org/south-carolina-state
Nicole Sanchez
Better Ballot SC, betterballotsc.org
Neel Sawicky
Chair, South Carolina Labor Party, votelabor.org
Rev Susie Smith
Retired Pastor, Activist
Anson Foster
South Carolina AFL-CIO Organizer, aflciosc.org
Speakers - During the march
Sigourney
MusicianJessica Thomas
Candidate, City of Columbia Mayor colacitysmayor2026.com
Kasie Whitener
Candidate, US Senate (Libertarian Party) kasiesouthcarolina.com
Young Dems of Central Midlands
Christopher Giracello
Candidate, US Senate, YouTube
Sylvia Wright
Candidate, South Carolina Superintendent of Education wright2026sc.com
Dr. Annie Andrews
Candidate, US Senate drannieandrews.com
Julie Zimmerman
Candidate, South Carolina House District 71 instagram.com/juliezforsc
Catherine Fleming Bruce
Candidate, US Senate facebook.com/CatherineFlemingBruceforSouthCarolina
Kyle Freeman
Candidate, US Senate kylefreemanforsenate.com
Walid Hakim
Candidate, South Carolina Governor (Green Party) facebook.com/walidnhakim
Mr. Magoo
50501 SC Organizer
Downtown Batman
Michelle Shara
50501 Organizer
Media Coverage
In a world full of algorithms and regime lies — media outlets and journalists are under increasing pressure, hate, and threats. Let’s make sure the outlets and journalists who covered No Kings know their commitment to journalistic ethics is appreciated.
https://www.sodacitizen.com/home/qyvdg789bnlkamuu2fo2fe9ulvp806
https://wach.com/news/local/thousands-rally-in-front-of-state-house-for-no-kings-protest
https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article312558060.html
We are worth fighting for.
In love and y’allidarity,
Your friendly local “radicals”