Demonstrators turned out across the country on Saturday, at more than 1,300 more "Hands Off!" rallies held in all 50 states, to protest the actions of President Trump. In Manhattan, the protest covered almost 20 blocks of Fifth Avenue. In the capital, organizers who anticipated 10,000 participants on their permit for the Washington Monument grounds said the crowd was five times that by afternoon. And in smaller places such as York, Pennsylvania, more than 700 people met at the square honoring the Continental Congress, which met there during the Revolutionary War, USA Today reports. The protesters said they were driven by host of causes.
They rallied to support national parks, small business, public education, health care for veterans, abortion rights, and fair elections, per the New York Times. They opposed Trump's tariffs, oligarchs, fascism, the deportations of legal immigrants, and Elon Musk's cuts to the federal government. In many places, conditions were not ideal for a demonstration. "Pouring rain, 43 degrees, biting wind, and people are still here in Albany in the thousands," said Ron Marz at the New York State Capitol. In another sort of chill, per NBC News, Musk had responded to a post saying "Democrat billionaires" were funding the protests and calling for demonstrators to be "held legally accountable for the violence and vandalism." Musk answered, "They will be."
Organizers wanted the rallies to be the largest against Trump since he began his second term, per the Washington Post. As of late afternoon, all protests were reported to be peaceful, per USA Today, with almost no counterprotesters showing up. Demonstrations also were held in several European cities. In Chicago, Glynn Tipton, 45, told the Times he turned out for his friends. "I'm a generic white guy, so they aren't coming for me," he said. "There's a lot of my friends who are Jewish, trans, in the military or sick, and they're not doing OK. It's OK for me to stand out here, so I should for the ones who are afraid." Events across the US included:
- Providence, Rhode Island: An estimated 6,000 people met at a high school and marched to a park, accompanied by brass bands.
- Stuart, Florida: About 200 people stood on Roosevelt Bridge, about an hour north of Mar-a-Lago. "We all should be speaking out," said Ann Berger, adding: "We should be respectful and listen to each other, but we need to speak the truth. There's too much fear going on."
- Sedona, Arizona: More than 500 demonstrators marched downtown chanting "Deport Musk."
- Columbus, Ohio: Hundreds protested at the Statehouse, including Roger Broom, who said he once was a Reagan Republican but said Trump is tearing the nation apart. "It's just an administration of grievances," Broom said.
- Palm Beach Gardens, Florida: Hundreds lined both sides of PGA Drive, a few miles from Trump's golf course in Jupiter, where the president was attending a tournament, per the AP. "They need to keep their hands off of our Social Security," said Archer Moran of Port St. Lucie, who then added, "The list of what they need to keep their hands off of is too long."
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