Millions tell Trump, Musk: ‘Hands off!’

Nearly everyone in the U.S. has been negatively affected by the Trump/Musk team’s cuts to federal jobs, veterans’ care, schools, libraries, science programs, Medicaid, the Women, Infants and Children program, heating aid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and more. There are looming threats to Social Security and disability benefits. The capitalist class is trying to crush the working class and take the wealth it has produced.

The masses have taken to the streets in protest, as shown by the over 1,300 demonstrations held April 5 under the theme of “Hands Off!” Organizers cite over 600,000 people registering for the events, but many more showed up without registering. Actions took place in large urban areas, suburbs and small towns.

Millions of people protested across all 50 states, U.S.-occupied territories and dozens of locations around the world, showing immense anger against Trump and centibillionaire Elon Musk and their devastating attacks on workers, immigrants, people of color, women and gender-oppressed people, LGBTQIA2S+ people, children, elderly and disabled individuals, the climate, environment, economy and health care. For many, it was their first time demonstrating or the first protest they have gone to in a long time. 

However, the organizers, who are tied to the Democratic Party, limited the politics of Hands Off to challenging attacks by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk without opposing the capitalist system as a whole. There was zero official mention of the U.S.-backed Israeli criminal genocide against Palestine. Yet there were flags of the right-wing Ukraine regime and even a pro-war message in calls for “Hands off NATO.”

Nevertheless, Workers World Party members were well received as they carried signs saying “Hands off Gaza!” and “Stop the war on workers and Palestine!” They distributed literature calling for abolishing the capitalist class of billionaires, who are behind the frontal assault on workers and oppressed people everywhere.

Here are a few reports.

Over 100,000 protest in Boston

Over 100,000 people from throughout the New England area rallied at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common before flooding the streets of downtown for a mass march on City Hall. 

Speakers included leaders from the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB), Massachusetts AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Trans Resistance, the American Federation of Government Employees Council 215 and elected representatives. 

Amongst the sea of protesters were activists from the pro-Palestine solidarity movement demanding an end to Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide and all U.S. aid to Israel.

Many signs called for the release of Tufts Ph.D. student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was kidnapped by plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents two weeks ago for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza.

While some of the signs in the massive crowds were theatrically provocative, they exemplified the angry, desperate tone of the working-class attendees, many of whom come from relative privilege and have never had to fight for their basic rights.

Seth Ward, who traveled to the demonstration from Central Massachusetts and is an organizer with Workers World Party’s Boston branch observed: “A key takeaway from the Hands Off demonstrations is how many workers can mobilize against the status quo; they just need to recognize that the Democratic Party and narrow, self-interested identity politics will not save them from the current administration and the austerity and repression of late stage capitalism. 

“It shows the potential for a massive awakening of our class, given the clarity of a Marxist political education to direct their misguided anger away from just Musk and Trump and recognize the contradictions of capitalism as a whole affecting all oppressed people and to understand the importance of solidarity amongst the global working class from Turtle Island to Palestine.” 

Eastern region protesters chant for Palestine

As part of the national day of protest against the Trump administration on April 5, tens of thousands of people marched in New York City from the main library near Bryant Park to Madison Square Park. Initiated by the Democratic Party, the protest called for an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration, an end to slashing funds for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other programs and an end to the attacks on immigrants and trans people. 

There were activists who have been in the streets for 18 months protesting the U.S.-backed Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people. A contingent, including people from the WWP’s delegation, marched in support of Palestine, carrying many signs. Along the march route a Palestinian activist stood on a street lamp leading “Free, free, free Palestine!” and “Stop Funding Israel!” chants, which were picked up and chanted by wave after wave of marchers as they passed.

A crowd of 10,000 people marched from City Hall to the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. “Hands off education, the arts, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, my trans kid — I will fight, I will win!” on one woman’s sign reflected many of the demands of the crowd. Other homemade placards included “Hands off Diversity, Equity, Inclusion,” “Hands off civil rights” and “Fear is their weapon — organizing is our power.”

There were also “Hands off NATO” and “save democracy” and similar patriotic placards alongside U.S. and Ukrainian flags, representing the pro-imperialist views of the Democratic Party.

This was a predominantly older white group. Many students and younger activists, who have been bearing the brunt of repression from both Biden and Trump administrations, stayed away, because “Hands Off” protest organizers glaringly left out Palestine, even as the U.S. continues to support the genocide taking place there and a major reason why Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris lost against Trump. 

As Democratic Party members spoke on stage, a group of activists held Palestinian flags near the stage chanting “Hands off Gaza!” Pennsylvania State Representatives Chris Rabb and Rick Krajewski responded by mentioning Palestine, genocide and Mahmoud Khalil, Palestinian protester and ICE detainee, in their speeches.

Speakers included other Democratic Party federal, state and city office holders plus representatives from the American Postal Workers Union and the Philly Federation of Teachers.

An estimated 30,000 people participated in a rally and march that began in Piedmont Park, proceeded onto Peachtree Street through the heart of downtown Atlanta and ended in Liberty Plaza across from the Georgia state Capitol.

Among the many signs demanding “Hands Off” that listed the programs and services being cut by the Trump administration were a significant number supporting the workers fired from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For the last several weeks, on multiple occasions, hundreds of people have gathered at the CDC complex near Emory University to denounce the cuts of vital research and outreach programs.

Members of Jewish Voice for Peace and others included slogans expressing solidarity with Palestine and demanding an end to U.S. complicity with Israel’s genocidal war on their signage.

There were similar large turnouts in at least 17 other Georgia cities and towns, including Valdosta, Macon and several Atlanta suburbs. 

Thousands of people gathered in downtown Buffalo, New York, to protest the Trump administration. WWP’s Buffalo branch attended with slogans demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza, the bombing of Yemen and an end to all U.S. wars. The branch also raised the demand to free Mahmoud Khalil and all political prisoners.

Thousands in Ohio, West Virginia hit the streets

In Cleveland, thousands of people packed Market Square Park and spilled out onto neighboring sidewalks. Homemade signs specified exactly what they want the Trump/Musk cabal to keep their hands off: Social Security, unions, immigrants, veterans’ benefits, schools, trans rights — and the list goes on. A few signs demanded “Hands off Palestine!”

Also in Ohio, an event called “Hands Off! Columbus Fights Back” drew hundreds of participants, holding signs and chanting for democracy to be restored and for Musk and Trump to be removed from power. The participants were largely white but a wide variety of ages with signs that covered topics such as Palestinian freedom, Social Security, attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, school and library funding, and veterans’ benefits. 

There were speakers followed by a march through the streets to chant and be joyously disruptive. Many people in cars came to honk and support the protesters. The event was well-attended despite the wind and rain.

This writer held a sign that said “No war but class war!” which was well received. 

About 500 people rallied at the Capitol complex in Charleston, West Virginia. The crowd was multinational with a strong presence of people from the LGBTQIA2S+ communities. While most signs had strong messages against the Trump/Musk regime, some reflected confusion over the U.S./NATO proxy war against Russia. 

There were also rallies in Beckley, Charles Town, Clarksburg, Elkins, Fairmont, Fayetteville, Huntington, Keyser, Lewisburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling, West Virginia. For many of these towns, “Hands Off” may have been the first protest ever.

Huge turnouts in Western states

In Denver, Colorado’s capitol, 10,000 people gathered. They joined protesters in a dozen other Colorado cities saying, “Hands Off!”

Marchers expressed concern for deportations of students speaking out against the genocide in Gaza and voiced solidarity with immigrants, specifically Jeanette Vizguerra, a local activist who ICE has detained.

There were signs reading “Protect our students, free Mahmoud Khalil!” and “Stop U.S. bombs, Stop Israel’s murder, Genocide is not a Jewish Value.” The failure of the Trump administration to speak about their greed for the rich openly, with so little care or respect for working people, including immigrants, and to threaten the safety, health and security of every person in this country, brought shouts of anger. The crowd of young and elderly people overflowed Civic Center Park on a wintry day in the Mile High City.

The “Hands Off” demonstration in Houston was over 6,000-strong. The plaza outside City Hall was positively teeming with people, all passionate about defeating the destructive policies that Trump and his billionaire allies are trying to implement. 

The explicit demands of the protest were to preserve Social Security, Medicare and other social programs essential to working people; to cease the attacks on “immigrants, trans people and other communities” and to end what they termed the “billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration.” 

However, individual marchers carried signs that referenced many other specific issues: reproductive rights; Palestine and the free speech of pro-Palestine protesters; the dismantling and gutting of scientific agencies that provide crucial services such as medical research, disaster forecasting and environmental impact assessment; the attacks on libraries and education and much more.

Many signs compared Trump and Musk to Nazis and other fascists. On the other hand, many signs, T-shirts and other regalia also referenced the Democratic Party as a solution — as if fascism is something that can be voted away. Many of the speakers reinforced this idea; one of them even explicitly said that “the reason we were in this situation was because not enough people voted in November.” One of the songs that played prior to the march carried the same message. 

Nonetheless, the fact that so many people were there, marching in the streets, indicates that there was an understanding that merely voting for the Democrats is not enough; collective action of some kind is necessary to create real change.

Big actions in Pacific Northwest

Masses turned out against Trump and Musk’s anti-working-class agenda at Seattle Center on April 4 as stock markets continued to tumble. Some estimates put the numbers in the tens of thousands as people flooded walkways around a large fountain. A crowd which looked just as big rallied at the state capitol in Olympia, Washington, and altogether 25 cities and towns in Washington state held rallies. 

The rally in Olympia called for freeing the migrant labor activists who have been held by ICE.

Another march was held at the Federal Detention Penitentiary in SeaTac against the roundups, jailings and deportations of migrant workers. Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity, along with immigrant rights groups and unions, marched on the prison. “Free, Free Palestine!” was among the chants. 

Thousands of Oregonians protested in over a dozen cities across the state. Several feeder rallies met at Portland’s waterfront, drawing together thousands of protesters who marched through town in a two-mile loop. They temporarily closed the I-5 ramp on the Morrison Street Bridge.

Protesters along the route expressed anger at Trump and Musk for firing thousands of federal workers, cutting funding for health programs, closing Social Security offices, deporting immigrants and attacking transgender people. Several protesters carried Venezuelan flags and Palestinian flags and broke out in chants for Palestine along the way.

Andrew Sylwester said: “I am a scientist, I work on HIV, and this is impacting my work. People are getting laid off, grants are getting defunded. … It’s just shocking what the government is doing.” (www.kgw.com)

Isaac Belden, Otis Grotewohl, Dianne Mathiowetz, Jim McMahan, Lyn Neeley, Joe Piette, Brenda Ryan, Mairead Skehan Gillis, Arjae Red, Seth Ward, Viviana Weinstein and the Workers World Houston bureau contributed to this article.