Count Crowds
Big protests fuel resistance by normalizing dissent and bringing new people to the movement. This is a primary reason for large, permitted protests, but in a nation as broad as the U.S. many can’t coalesce in big cities.
At the June 14th No Kings protests, we set records for peaceful turnout, but around 18% of protests went uncounted. Help report smaller protests so the numbers are accurate.
Why we do it:
If you attend very large protests (Seattle, Boston, etc.) there will be professionals present to estimate participation. Alt. National Parks deploys trained staff on-site for this purpose, and organizers will release estimates based on overhead image density, location, and sign-ups.
For smaller protests, it’s up to us to make sure they’re reported, and the aggregators require documentation of your methods. For very small protests (up to 100) simply take a head count. If possible, add an image for supporting documentation. For mid-sized protests (up to 500) get involved with organizers and discuss options like handing out leaflets as a marker, or using a drone or tall building to get an overhead shot for digital analysis. We the People Dissent has additional information and links to mid-sized crowd-counting tools.
If you attend a small to mid-sized protest, and you have a decent sense of scale, report the numbers. Almost 1 in 5 registered No Kings events did not have reported attendance numbers in 2025, so went uncounted by the Crowd Counting Consortium.
How to Report
The Crowd Counting Consortium is the canonical source for historic records. They accept documented reports from anyone, and take months to validate and compile estimates. Alt National Parks sends professional crowd counters to large events, and accepts documented reports from small events. Their rough estimates come out within days and help inform the news cycle during and after the event. We the People Dissent also collects crowd sizes, and educates about crowd-counting.
If you attended a SMALL protest (up to around 100 people) please submit numbers to all three as similar numbers help validate results. You do NOT have to be the organizer. You don’t need an exact count, but don’t guess wildly, as the goal is to have multiple reports converge. Outliers are disregarded to prevent trolling. Submit your estimate, any documentation, along with the time and location of the event.
