Tens of thousands of protesters on Saturday flooded the streets of major US cities to oppose the divisive policies of US President Donald Trump, in the largest demonstrations since his return to the White House.
The “Hands Off!” demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections advocates. The rallies appeared peaceful, with no immediate reports of arrests.
Protesters in cities dotting the nation from New York’s Midtown Manhattan to Anchorage, Alaska, including at multiple state capitols, assailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s actions on government downsizing, the economy, immigration and human rights.
Photo: AFP
On the West Coast, in the shadow of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, protesters held signs with slogans such as “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 Hall.
Demonstrators voiced anger over the administration’s 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 programs.
In Washington, thousands of demonstrators — many traveling from across the US — gathered on the National Mall where dozens of speakers rallied opposition to Trump.
Photo: Reuters
“We have about 100 people who have come down by bus and van from New Hampshire to protest against this outrageous administration [that] is causing us to lose our allies across the world, and causing devastation to people here at home,” said Diane Kolifrath, 64, a bike tour guide. “They’re gutting our government.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group, criticized the administration’s treatment of the LBGTQ+ community at the rally in Washington.
“The attacks that we’re seeing, they’re not just political. They are personal, y’all,” Robinson said.
Photo: Reuters
“We don’t want this America, y’all,” she added. “We want the America we deserve, where dignity, safety and freedom belong not to some of us, but to all of us.”
In Boston, demonstrators brandished signs such as “Hands off our democracy” and “Hands off our Social Security.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (吳弭), who is Taiwanese American, 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 attack.
Photo: Reuters
“I refuse to accept that they could grow up in a world where immigrants like their grandma and grandpa are automatically presumed to be criminals,” she said.
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