By Star-Advertiser Staff
Published on: Mar. 28, 2026
UPDATE: SATURDAY 1 p.m.
Demonstrators participating in the “No Dictators” protest were allowed back onto the grounds of the State Capitol around noon after a bomb threat temporarily closed the area.
Honolulu police said the Department of Law Enforcement and HPD have reopened all road and the Capitol.
“There is no threat to the public, and the planned protest is moving back to the Capitol,” HPD said in a news release.
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Honolulu police are investigating a possible bomb threat this morning at the State Capitol, which was the planned site of a “No Dictators” protest today.
Police said officers assisted state sheriffs with the evacuation of the Capitol at about 9:50 a.m., and closed Punchbowl, Richards, Miller and Beretania streets.
“The Hawaii State Capitol was the location of a planned protest this morning. The state Department of Law Enforcement is moving participants to the ‘Iolani Palace grounds until the validity of the bomb threat can be determined,” according to a Honolulu Police Department news release.
HPD asked the public to avoid the area during the ongoing investigation.
The “No Dictators Peace March and Rally,” which is part of today’s “No Kings” national day of protest, was scheduled to begin at Thomas Square for a march starting at 10:15 a.m. on South Beretania to the State Capitol for a rally, according to ACLU Hawaii. It was one of several protests planned throughout the islands.
The protests are “to show support for basic fundamental democratic principles including the rule of law and due process and mobilize against the Trump administration’s escalating abuses of power,” according to the ACLU, one of the organizers, along with Indivisible Hawai‘i, and Pride at Work Hawai’i and other community groups.