Over this past weekend, you may have seen a significantly large crowd of people at Central Square and surrounding areas holding signs stating “Hands Off,” “Not My President,” “Resist Fascism” and hundreds of other uniquely worded protest signs against Donald Trump’s administration. We were not the only town or city that held these protests.
On April 5, over 1,400 protests happened across all 50 states.
This is the largest day of action since Trump took office. They were held at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security headquarters, city halls and local parks.
There really was no single idea that brought everyone to go out and protest other than the anger and unrest at Trump’s actions.
Those who were let go due to the Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping cuts of federal agencies were present. People who majorly rely on Medicaid, Social Security and other programs that the working class rely on turned up. Those with empathy attended.
Organizer of the “Hands Off” protest, Indivisible, worked in collaboration with many coalitions similar to these issues, such as civil rights organizations, veterans, women’s rights groups, labor unions and LGBTQ+ advocates all across the country.
Although cold and rainy, New Englanders showed up with no hesitation. With clear plastic bags wrapped over their signs and ponchos protecting them from the cold rain, they were here and ready for the long run.
Local cities such as Portsmouth and our state capitol, Concord, held a large number of protesters.
Protester Ariel Schmitt of Portsmouth told New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), “Together we can do big things, we don’t want to tear this country down; it’s not about destruction.”
Marnie Terhune of Lee, who attended the event, told NHPR, “I feel like I wake up everyday and things that are meaningful to me are under attack.”
I couldn’t agree more with her statement; it’s disheartening to see something so deeply personal to you be so easily attacked with zero basis.
While numbers were large in our state, Boston’s was even larger. An estimated 100,000 people showed up. I recommend looking at the aerial video, it really puts into reality the true scale.
This comes as no surprise; the mayor of Boston has outwardly defended her city from President Trump’s policies.
In her State of the City address in March, she said, “No one tells Boston how to take care of our own. Not kings, not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies.”
“Hands Off” organizers said “millions” of people turned up from the East to the West coast, including Alaska and Hawaii. It’s hard to know exactly how many people truly turned up. I would like to hope it’s close to their estimate.
However, it’s not a true protest without outrage from the important right-wingers.
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and Trump’s former attorney (now disbarred), shared his views on the day of action on X, stating, “ANTI TRUMP AND ANTI MUSK PROTESTERS EXPOSED!”
He continued in his post to explain that when a protester was asked to be interviewed, he declined, saying, “I’m not really into interviews.” Giuliani insinuated the protestor didn’t know what he was protesting for and therefore was forced to be there by some outside organization.
Many followers of Trump are now under the impression that these people were paid to protest. By whom, I really couldn’t tell you.
I just want to know what Kool-Aid they are drinking.
While there will always be backlash, the good news outweighs the bad. April 5 will be remembered for years to come as a sign of hope and that we will not be silenced.
Alice Whittemore can be contacted at
awhittemore@kscequinox.com
