A grassroots protest railing against the Trump administration and actions by “special government employee,” Elon Musk, marched and chanted through the streets of Boston and other cities in the U.S. with an outcry against the dismantling of government agencies and complaints that Democrats are not doing enough in the fight.
Protestors chanted as they gathered on the steps of the State House Wednesday just before noon. They stayed there for about an hour in sub-20 degree temperatures before moving to the windswept Boston Common. They eventually marched through Suffolk University’s urban campus toward the John F. Kennedy Federal Building.
“Save our democracy … The people, united, will never be defeated,” they chanted, sounding familiar protest refrains.
After marching between the federal building and Boston City Hall for about half an hour, the crowd made its way back to the State House, where they occupied Beacon Street for several hours as Boston police and Massachusetts state troopers stood by.
One organizer, Natalie Muñez, said that she’s been disappointed by the response of Democratic lawmakers to Trump’s attempts to remake vast swathes of the federal government, and that for many, protest is the only reasonable response.
“We’re trying to get our voices heard. We feel like there is a lot of corruption going on in the government at the moment and it seems like we don’t really have a say. We’re trying to make sure that we have a say. Make sure that they hear us. I feel like if we give enough push back they’re going to go back on some of their new rules,” she said.
It’s worked before, she said. Trump attempted to halt a large range of government spending recently, only to have his efforts blocked by a federal judge in the midst of widespread backlash.
It’s clear, Muñez said, that people speaking out can have an impact. It is also clear, Muñez said, that the people in charge of the left wing of American politics need to hear the message of protestors too.
“Democrats are a little too comfortable, because they are not realizing how serious this situation is,” she said.
The reason for the event — dubbed 50501 by organizers, to represent 50 protests across 50 states for one day — were broad, but centered on the actions of recently re-inaugurated President Trump and Musk.
The pair, according to protestors, have spent the first two weeks of Trump’s second term unlawfully dismantling the federal government and assaulting the rights of migrants and transgender Americans.
“Welcome to the resistance,” shouted a protestor with a bullhorn.
A spokesperson for one of the organizing groups told the Herald that protestors’ demands are many, but that they include Trump stepping down or facing impeachment and removal.
They’re also calling for investigations into Trump and Musk’s actions and into the president’s cabinet appointees. They want to see Trump’s executive orders that “infringe on citizen and human rights” rescinded.
Protesters called for the reinstatement of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies banned by the Trump Administration and stronger hate speech laws, up to and including a ban on Nazi propaganda and salutes.
A spokesperson for The Political Revolution, a political action committee that backed Vermont’s Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sander’s 2016 presidential bid, said that their group got involved with Wednesday’s protests because they are “committed to addressing the urgent need for unity, justice, and positive change across the United States.”
“Our coalition calls for immediate actions to rectify the injustices perpetuated by current leadership and to restore integrity and fairness to our political system. We demand transparency, accountability, and the prioritization of human rights and equality,” they said.
Trump’s White House, ahead of Wednesday’s protests, took aim at a group of protestors that gathered in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. That event, attended by several leading liberal lawmakers, was filled with “calls for violence,” according to the White House.
“Last night, at a ‘protest’ outside the Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) unleashed another despicable call for violence as she declared, ‘Shut down the city! We are at war!’ Her sick threat comes days after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) instructed his members to ‘fight’ against President Trump’s agenda ‘in the streets.’” they wrote. “The lack of condemnation over this type of unhinged behavior is deafening.”
State Sen. Sal DiDomenico joined protestors in Boston on Wednesday, and told them that he “honestly believes, that there are more of us than there are of them.”
