“They’re dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we’ll just watch.
Apr. 5. 2025
In communities across the United States and also overseas, coordinated “Hands Off” protests are taking place far and wide Saturday in the largest public rebuke yet to President Donald Trump and top henchman Elon Musk’s assault on the workings of the federal government and their program of economic sabotage that is sacrificing the needs of working families to authoritarianism and the greed of right-wing oligarchs.
Indivisible, one of the key organizing groups behind the day’s protests, said millions participated in more than 1,300 individual rallies as they demanded “an end to Trump’s authoritarian power grab” and condemning all those aiding and abetting it.
“We expected hundreds of thousands. But at virtually every single event, the crowds eclipsed our estimates,” the group said in a statement Saturday evening.
“This is the largest day of protest since Trump retook office,” the group added. “And in many small towns and cities, activists are reporting the biggest protests their communities have ever seen as everyday people send a clear, unmistakable message to Trump and Musk: Hands off our healthcare, hands off our civil rights, hands off our schools, our freedoms, and our democracy.”
According to the organizers’ call to action:
They’re dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we’ll just watch.
On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way. They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam.
They’re handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich. If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.
The more than 1,300 “Hands Off!” demonstrations—organized by a large coalition of unions, progressive advocacy groups, and pro-democracy watchdogs—first kicked off Saturday in Europe, followed by East Coast communities in the U.S., and continued throughout the day at various times, depending on location. See here for a list of scheduled “Hands Off” events.
“The United States has a president, not a king,” said the progressive advocacy group People’s Action, one of the group’s involved in the actions, in an email to supporters Saturday morning just as protest events kicked off in hundreds of cities and communities. “Donald Trump has, by every measure, been working to make himself a king. He has become unanswerable to the courts, Congress, and the American people.”
In its Saturday evening statement, Indivisible said the actions far exceeded their expectations and should be seen as a turning point in the battle to stop Trump and his minions:
The Trump administration has spent its first 75 days in office trying to overwhelm us, to make us feel powerless, so that we will fall in line, accept the ransacking of our government, the raiding of our social safety net, and the dismantling of our democracy.
And too often, the response from our leaders and those in positions to resist has been abject cowardice. Compliance. Obeying in advance.
But not today. Today we’ve demonstrated a different path forward. We’ve modeled the courage and action that we want to see from our leaders, and showed all those who’ve been standing on the sidelines who share our values that they are not alone.
Citing the Republican president’s thirst for “power and greed,” People’s Action earlier explained why organized pressure must be built and sustained against the administration, especially at the conclusion of a week in which the global economy was spun into disarray by Trump’s tariff announcement, his attack on the rule of law continued, and the twice-elected president admitted he was “not joking” about the possibility of seeking a third term, which is barred by the constitution.
MASSIVE Anti-Trump uprising in NYC!! #HandsOff pic.twitter.com/Gb91kaPTKr
— Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) April 5, 2025
“He is destroying the economy with tariffs in order to pay for the tax cuts he wants to push through to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies,” warned People’s Action. “He has ordered the government to round up innocent people off of the streets and put them in detention centers without due process because they dared to speak out using their First Amendment rights. And he is not close to being done—by his own admission, he is planning to run for a third term, which the Constitution does not allow.”
Live stream of Hands Off rally in Washington, D.C.:
Below are photo or video dispatches from demonstrations around the world on Saturday. Check back for updates…
United Kingdom
HAPPENING NOW: The worldwide “Hands Off!” rallies are already underway at Trafalgar Square in London 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/PNnf8vTLl9
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 5, 2025
France
Protesters in Paris, France for the Hands Off! protest event!
Thank you for your solidarity!
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 5, 2025
Germany
Protesters in Frankfurt, Germany showed up to support the Hands Off! protest movement.
Thank you, Germany!
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 5, 2025
Belgium
HAPPENING NOW: Protesters in Brussels, Belgium have gathered for the “Hands Off!” worldwide protests today 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/AfL0uTOhPo
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 5, 2025
Massachusetts:
Happening now: as hundreds of protests around the country get underway thousands have ascended in the Boston Commons for the Hands Off 2025 protest against the Trump Administration. #BREAKING #boston #handsoff2025 pic.twitter.com/ehDKjXsRQm
— Arthur Mansavage (@ArthurMansavage) April 5, 2025
Maine:
Thousands out in Portland ME demanding Trump + the GOP get their #HandsOff our social services, our democracy, + our climate!
Speaker after speaker demanding Dems step up w/ a bold + positive vision to stop the brutal attacks on working people + take back power. #HandsOff2025 pic.twitter.com/8YbDzt22ZL
— Collin Rees (@collinrees) April 5, 2025
#handsoff Portland, ME pic.twitter.com/FZ3tjNby4F
— Mike Lerley (@mlerley) April 5, 2025
Washington, D.C.:
WATCH LIVE: ‘Hands Off’ protest against Trump and Musk’s federal cuts in Washington, D.C. https://t.co/eKcbJdbfWa
— PBS News (@NewsHour) April 5, 2025
New York:
Niagara Square in Buffalo NY packed for #HandsOff2025 Just getting started!! pic.twitter.com/qc4OY8Ackt
— Jennifer Surtees, PhD (@SurteesJennifer) April 5, 2025
Minnesota:
This is what democracy looks like.
St. Paul — one of 1000 coordinated protests, drawing hundreds of thousands nationwide.#HandsOff pic.twitter.com/73rFxSkjvR
— Brian Lassiter (@LassiterBrian) April 5, 2025
Michigan:
Oakland County MI is out in force saying #HandsOff to Elon and Trump! pic.twitter.com/sIO8PDBg8o
— Megan Owens (@MeganDetroit) April 5, 2025
Ohio:
Huge turnout for #HandsOff protest today in Columbus, Ohio! Stand up, fight back!! pic.twitter.com/bZ0VELBwno
— Matt Caffrey – @mattcaff@union.place (@matthewbcaffrey) April 5, 2025
Colorado:
Colorado didn’t vote for this. #HandsOff #TrumpRecession #copolitics pic.twitter.com/4t6EXd0fRt
— ProgressNow Colorado (@ProgressNowCO) April 5, 2025
Pennsylvania:
Thousands of people are outside of Philadelphia City Hall for the #handsoff rally pic.twitter.com/rqOwBqzQdH
— SeanKitchen.bsky.social (@pennslinger) April 5, 2025
North Carolina:
Huge turnout in Deeply red Catawba County NC today for our Hands off March. #HandsOff2025 pic.twitter.com/hyJ1zSBv7h
— Badlab (@Badlab) April 5, 2025
The protest organizers warn that what Trump and Musk are up to “is not just corruption” and “not just mismanagement,” but something far more sinister.
“This is a hostile takeover,” they said, but vowed to fight back. “This is the moment where we say NO. No more looting, no more stealing, no more billionaires raiding our government while working people struggle to survive.”
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