Common Dreams Staff

In communities across the United States and also overseas, coordinated “Hands Off” protests are taking place far and wide 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.

“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.

“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.”

(Common Dreams is a US non-profit newsportal.)

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Hands Off Everything – Save Our Democracy

Phil Pasquini

More than 1,200 demonstrations sponsored by over 400 activists’ groups took place on March 5 in all 50 states to protest Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s dismantling of the government to put into place their conservative MAGA agenda based on Project 2025 that has negatively impacted people across the globe.

To date, these are the largest mass mobilizations since Trump took office in January with activists against the power grab calling for “Hands Off!” our government. “We have a president not a king!” “Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them, but we are fighting back!”

Among the sites protesters demonstrated at were Tesla dealerships where weekly actions have contributed to a13 percent decline in U.S. sales for the first quarter of 2025, the largest decrease in the company’s history.

So, it was fitting that before the main protest at San Francisco City Hall a large crowd of several hundred activists picketed the Tesla showroom calling for Trump and Musk to be kicked out of the government along with their “fascist MAGA” agenda. The near-constant sound of car horns in support of the pickets action along busy Van Ness Avenue was affirmation of the unpopularity of both and their ransacking of our government.

Those present carried signs calling for the reversal of Trump’s executive orders that have so badly damaged the government since his January inauguration along with the growing damage he has inflicted on the world’s economy this week in reaction to the imposition of tariffs.

As the “Hands Off” our government protest at City Hall was about to begin, the activists at Tesla marched to join the thousands there in support of government programs, services and agencies that Trump and Musk through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have shutdown. The fear of growing Fascism and loss of Constitutional rights were also concerns for those in attendance along with the closing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords.

The massive crowd heard from several speakers all of whom agreed that they would fight to see an end to the chaotic re-juxtaposition of government along with an end to the fascist tactics being employed against undocumented immigrants by ICE, and punitive actions against student protesters over Gaza.

The shuttering of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) by DOGE may result in over 1.6 million deaths for those who are dependent on HIV/Aids medication as access to the lifesaving drugs they depend upon have ended.

While Musk strutted about on television with a chainsaw to demonstrate his dismantling of U.S. government “inefficiencies” through his DOGE efforts, he has at the same time been on the receiving end of a $959 billion dollar investment by the State of New York for a Tesla solar panel Gigafactory deal in Buffalo, New York. The agreement came about when Tesla acquired Solar City and entered into a contract with the state in exchange for investment and other conditions that the state required. It is one of the largest such publicly financed projects in the country and under the terms of the agreement allowed Musk in turn to lease the factory facility for $1 a year.

A New York Times article quoted a conservative think tank that called the investment “the single biggest economic development boondoggle” in US history. Seems government efficiency is a one-way street for Elon. In one review of the deal, it was determined that for every taxpayer dollar invested in the plant a return of 54 cents would be realized by the state, hardly a worthwhile investment of public funds and certainly a government inefficiency.

New York legislators are currently reviewing the project’s contract for renewal as it is set to expire this year. It remains to be seen if they will renew it or not and what if any changes they may require. If the contract is renewed, Musk’s rent will go up to $2 million and will increase in following years.

Musk, who spent $290 million to get Trump elected, had one political setback this week when attempting to buy the results of the Wisconsin state Supreme Court election labeled the most expensive in U.S. history. Musk shelled out $25 million of the $90 million spent in the attempt to elect conservative candidate Brad Schimel only to see, despite his despicable performance wearing a cheese wedge hat, Wisconsin voters instead elect Democratic candidate Susan Crawford who will make a liberal majority in the court. Musk paid three voters one million dollars each for their vote.

Musk, it seems, believes that everything is for sale, but the growing reaction to his offensive and cheapening efforts to control voters and elections received a resounding message that Wisconsinites votes are not for sale.

[Phil Pasquini is an experienced photojournalist with a demonstrated history of working in international affairs and journalism across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Courtesy: San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay).]