Angry protesters from New York to Alaska assail Trump and Musk in 'Hands Off!' rallies

Crowds of people angry about the way President Donald Trump is running the country marched and rallied in scores of American cities Saturday in the biggest day of demonstrations yet by an opposition movement trying to regain its momentum after the shock of the Republicans first weeks in officeSocalled Hands Off demonstrations were organised for more than 1200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups including civil rights organisations labour unions LBGTQ advocates veterans and elections activists The rallies appeared peaceful with no immediate reports of arrestsThousands of protesters in cities dotting the nation from Midtown Manhattan to Anchorage Alaska including at multiple state capitols assailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musks actions on government downsizing the economy immigration and human rightsOn the West Coast in the shadow of Seattles iconic Space Needle protesters held signs with slogans like Fight the oligarchy Protesters chanted as they took to the streets in Portland Oregon and Los Angeles where they marched from Pershing Square to City HallDemonstrators voiced anger over the administrations moves to fire thousands of federal workers close Social Security Administration field offices effectively shutter entire agencies deport immigrants scale back protections for transgender people and cut funding for health programsMusk a Trump adviser who runs Tesla SpaceX and the social media platform X has played a key role in the downsizing as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency He says he is saving taxpayers billions of dollarsAsked about the protests the White House said in a statement that President Trumps position is clear he will always protect Social Security Medicare and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries Meanwhile theDemocrats stance is giving Social Security Medicaid and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniorsKelley Robinson president of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group criticized the administrations treatment of the LBGTQ community at the rally at the National Mall in Washington DC where Democratic members of Congress also took the stageThe attacks that were seeing theyre not just political They are personal yall Robinson said Theyre trying to ban our books theyre slashing HIV prevention funding theyre criminalizing our doctors our teachers our families and our livesWe dont want this America yall Robinson added We want the America we deserve where dignity safety and freedom belong not to some of us but to all of usIn Boston demonstrators brandished signs such as Hands off our democracy and Hands off our Social SecurityMayor Michelle Wu said she does not want her children and others to live in a world in which threats and intimidation are government tactics and values like diversity and equality are under attackI refuse to accept that they could grow up in a world where immigrants like their grandma and grandpa are automatically presumed to be criminals Wu saidRoger Broom 66 a retiree from Delaware County Ohio was one of hundreds who rallied at the Statehouse in Columbus He said he used to be a Reagan Republican but has been turned off by TrumpHes tearing this country apart Broom said Its just an administration of grievancesHundreds of people also demonstrated in Palm Beach Gardens Florida a few miles from Trumps golf course in Jupiter where he spent the morning at the clubs Senior Club Championship People lined both sides of PGA Drive encouraging cars to honk and chanting slogans against TrumpThey need to keep their hands off of our Social Security said Archer Moran of Port St Lucie FloridaThe list of what they need to keep their hands off of is too long Moran said And its amazing how soon these protests are happening since hes taken officeThe president golfed in Florida Saturday and planned to do so again Sunday the White House saidActivists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Trump and Musk multiple times since Trump returned to office But before Saturday the opposition movement had yet to produce a mass mobilization like the Womens March in 2017 which brought thousands of women to Washington after Trumps first inauguration or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyds killing by police in Minneapolis in 2020In Charlotte North Carolina protesters said they were supporting a variety of causes from Social Security and education to immigration and womens reproductive rightsRegardless of your party regardless of who you voted for whats going on today whats happening today is abhorrent said Britt Castillo 35 of Charlotte Its disgusting and as broken as our current system might be the way that the current administration is going about trying to fix things it is not the way to do it Theyre not listening to the peopleAmong thousands marching through downtown San Jose California were Deborah and Douglas DohertyDeborah a graphic designer is a veteran of the 2017 Womens March and was nervous that fewer people have turned out against Trump this time All the cities need to show up she said Now people are kind of numb to it which is itself frighteningThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params