Baton Rouge, LA – On April 19, almost 200 Baton Rouge community members gathered at the State Capitol for a march to the Russell B. Long Federal Building to say no to unlawful ICE actions, illegal deportations and the attacks on vital government programs.

The action began with a rally at the Capitol where the crowd of protesters stood next to a separate “bible reading marathon” taking place on the capitol steps. Shortly after, the crowd began their march through the streets of downtown Baton Rouge, with the mass of people stretching across multiple blocks.

Unable to identify the organizer of this rally, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) member Ryan Spalt began leading chants while other members of FRSO guided the protesters through the streets of Baton Rouge. When the protesters reached the federal courthouse, they gathered outside to continue chanting and demanding that the GOP keep their hands off the people’s movements.

The crowd faced towards a busy road as they loudly chanted things such as “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! If we don't get it? Shut it down!” and “Landry hear us loud and clear! Trans kids are welcome here!”

The protesters then marched back to the Capitol building where energy levels remained high. Spalt and other members began handing out flyers against Trump’s repressive agenda near the end of the rally, which people were highly receptive towards.

Baton Rouge community members stated they plan on keeping up their fight for justice under the Trump administration. Baton Rouge has a fighting movement who is not willing to put up with the attacks on immigrants or the attacks on our vital governmental programs!

#BatonRougeLA #LA #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #HandsOff

Decorah, IA – On a clear Saturday afternoon, April 19, members of FRSO and a crowd of over 250 people gathered at Carl Selland Wayside Park in Decorah to send a message loud and clear – “Hands off our communities, hands off our rights.” The rally, organized by NE Iowa Indivisible, was the second in an ongoing series of public actions aimed at promoting solidarity in the face of growing reactionary threats.

The crowd stretched along the College Drive Bridge, holding signs that read “Support immigrants and refugees” and “Public education is the foundation of our democracy.” Passing cars honked in support — some offered middle fingers in response — but the demonstrators stood their ground. Shoulder to shoulder, they made it known, Northeast Iowa isn’t staying silent.

Decorah resident and longtime activist Liz Rog led the group in protest songs, calling out lyrics through a megaphone as the crowd sang along.

Joshua Ratel-Khan, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “The rally wasn’t just about making noise. It was about building a base. Organizers made clear this was part of a broader strategy, one that includes continued public demonstrations, mutual aid and voter pressure campaigns targeting local and state officials.”

Attendees ranged from young families to longtime labor activists. Many carried handmade signs, while others simply showed up to be counted, to stand in visible defiance of policies and rhetoric that target immigrants, undermine public education and take way our rights.

As the crowd began to disperse, the message remained: people are ready to fight back. Not just today, but for the long haul.

#DecorahIA #IA #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #HandsOff

Detroit, MI – 2500 people gathered at Hart Plaza, April 19, ready to fight back against Donald Trump and his attacks on working-class people, both at home and abroad. The demonstration was a “Hands Off” march and rally, organized by Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Comité de Acción Comunitaria, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

For the first time since the “Hands Off” movement began in the city, residents took the streets of the Motor City, chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” The people were filled with righteous anger, and the signs dotting the procession showed people’s animosity to this current administration, many referring to Donald Trump and Elon Musk as kings, oligarchs and murderers. Many signs carried demands on the Trump administration, urging that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be brought home and for an end to the United States’ relationship with the El Salvadoran prison CECOT.

Keeping with this theme, Marcel Ulacia spoke for the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, saying, “We cannot afford to wait and see what happens or hope in vain that Trump's depravity will find some kind of limit. Politics starts at home, with our neighbors, and in our communities, where regular people like you and me get together to fight for what we believe in.” The people began cheering, chanting in support of a movement that will “Stand up and fight back!”

Dr. Michael Muczynski of Students for a Democratic Society began the rally with a speech about the recent revoking of student visas, saying, “I compel all parents, grandparents, faculty and community members to support the student movement. My peers have been harassed, stalked, arrested and deported for doing what is right.” This comes in the wake of more than four Wayne State Students having their visas revoked and Wayne State’s main guidance to those affected being to “self-deport.”

Muczynski followed this up by demanding Wayne State kick ICE off campus, declare itself a sanctuary campus, and refuse to capitulate to Trump’s demands on deportations and his cuts to education and DEI. The crowd responded with a resounding chant of “Dare to struggle, dare to win!”

As the crowd took the streets, people worked together with the marshals to ensure a successful march. The energy was electrifying as the march paused in front of the U.S. Immigration Court, where Kassandra Rodriguez of Detroit Comité de Acción Comunitaria spoke. Rodriguez called for an end to cooperation between Detroit Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for the city to declare itself a sanctuary, stating, “We need a city government that represents the needs of the people and what we want is ICE out of our community now!”

Upon returning to Hart Plaza, the crowd rallied once more to hear from Jacob Smith of Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Jo Pico of Detroit Anti-War Committee. Both speakers emphasized the dire need for grassroots organizing in the city, with Pico saying, “Over the course of this nation’s history, and especially in the three months since Donald Trump has taken office, it has become an unavoidable truth that the United States government will never do the right thing unless we, the people, demand it.”

Smith furthered this point by declaring, “We cannot allow anything like another Trump presidency to happen again, and that means we need to rise up, get organized, and do away with the capitalist system that put him here in the first place.”

After this, the crowd began to disperse, though many people followed the organizer’s call to action, speaking with several of the march leaders about how to get involved further. One person expressed, “I want to do more than just march in the street.” The action provided people an opportunity to get involved and, in Smith’s words, “make Trump’s America ungovernable.”

#DetroitMI #MI #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #HandsOff #AntiWarMovement #ImmigrantRights

San Jose, CA – On Saturday, April 5, several thousand San Jose residents gathered in Saint James Park as part of a wider wave of “Hands Off” protests happening around the United States. The protest was chiefly against the Trump administration's attacks on broad sections of people, including immigrants, federal workers, trans people and many more.

The demonstration began gathering at Saint James Park, before marching past City Hall, and then returning to the park for a program of speakers. Slogans and chants generally revolved around responding to reactionary and billionaire attacks, such as “Hey hey, ho ho, these billionaires have got to go!” and “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” In addition, anti-war and pro-immigrant chants were common, such as “From Yemen, to Palestine, bombing children is a crime!” and “From Palestine to Mexico, these border walls have got to go!”

Uriel Magdaleno from Silicon Valley Immigration Committee spoke out against Trump’s attacks on immigrants, and ICE’s ongoing crackdowns and brutal detentions, including local cases such as Ulises Pena Lopez, a Sunnyvale resident who was brutalized and arrested by ICE on February 21.

Magdaleno stated, “We demand no deportations and no separation of families! We are calling on Rho Khanna, Zoe Lofgren and Alex Padilla to send a joint congressional inquiry on Ulises [case].” He ended his speech with a call to action, to join the upcoming May Day march, and to continue to organize and agitate against Trump, stating, “It is through the people’s struggle and people’s movements that we will resist Trump!”

John Duroyan from Freedom Road Socialist Organization also spoke during the open mic section, stating “Trump is gonna have a fight on his hands. Trump’s] not going to lay a finger on us! Not if we rise up, as a powerful united front, that will topple these billionaires and oligarchs gutting our country!” He ended his speech echoing FRSO’s general call, “Make the country ungovernable!”

The San Jose protest was organized by 50501, Indivisible, and Silicon Valley Immigration Committee. It was also a prelude to larger actions happening later in the month, and the upcoming May Day march happening on May 1.

#SanJoseCA #CA #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #SVIC #Indivisible #HandsOff

Kokomo, IN – On Saturday, April 5, hundreds of people gathered at the Howard County Courthouse in Kokomo as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protest organized by Operation Blue Horizon, a subcommittee of the Howard County Democratic Party.

Protesters rallied against billionaires Trump and Elon Musk and demanded an end to the racist and reactionary attacks on working people and against the genocide in Palestine.

Along with these demands, protesters decried the recent furlough of 900 United Auto Workers (UAW) jobs at Stellantis factories in Kokomo and other plants in Michigan.

Speakers railed against the recent price hikes in medication and called for the need for healthcare.

“We have come to a point in this country where pharmacists and doctors are having to steal from the companies that own them just to give medication to the sick and poor people,” said Seth Wenger of Operation Blue Horizon, telling the crowd about the struggles he faced getting insulin as a type 1 diabetic after Trump removed price caps on medication put in place by the Biden administration.

“We are not free if we die of preventable or easily treatable illnesses,” said Natalie Guestbourne, a local teacher.

The crowd of hundreds marched loud and proud around the Howard County courthouse, unfazed by the cold and persistent rain. Chanting and waving homemade signs, the people of Kokomo made it clear they’re fighting back no matter the conditions.

“The time is now to unite like never before. Capitulation is contagious, but so is courage. That is not to say we will sacrifice what we know to be right and good. That genocide, like what's happening in Gaza, and Yemen, and Sudan, and others, is never acceptable,” said Natalie Guestbourne.

“Israel continues to starve, bomb, displace, ethnically cleanse and imprison Palestinians all across the West Bank and Gaza in full view of the world and with U.S. military, political and economic support,” said Tavish Bryan of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Kokomo refuses to back down in an era of increased repression and attacks by the Trump administration.

Whether it’s attacks on education, social security, healthcare, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, federal workers, or Palestine, the people of Kokomo are standing up, rain or shine, and refusing to be silent.

Operation Blue Horizon and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) are mobilizing and planning for another protest on April 19. The time is now to be bold, stand up, and fight back.

To stay up to date with protests in Kokomo, follow @frso_indiana and @operationbluehorizon on Instagram.

#KokomoIN #IN #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #HandsOff #FRSO #OperationBlueHorizon

Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, April 5, over 10,000 people gathered in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, joining the nationwide in the “Hands Off!” protests which have been the largest demonstrations to date against Donald Trump and his administration.

The march started at 4 p.m. with a kickoff in Pershing Square, followed by a march to City Hall. Energized protestors flooded the streets outraged by the Trump administration's attacks on immigrants and transgender people, mass federal worker firings and government downsizing of vital social services.

The demonstration was a colorfully diverse and family friendly. That being said, the anger from attendees was palpable as many are fed up with the broad attacks on the working class. Johnathan Ortega, a USPS worker said, “I’m out here today because the Trump administration is looking to cut our wages, cut our benefits, cut our workforce and essentially privatize the Postal Service”.

Protesters young and old proudly marched through downtown streets chanting “Hey hey, Ho ho, Trump and Musk have got to go!” People carried signs that read “Hands off Social Security!” and “No human is illegal on stolen land!”

The protest was organized by a broad coalition of organizations that included Indivisible, Move On and the 50501 movement. Many other organizations joined the effort too such as unions, civil rights organizations and other grassroots groups.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #PeoplesStruggles #ImmigrantRights #Trump #HandsOff #Indivisible #USPS

St. Paul, MN – At least 50,000 people rallied here April 5 against Trump’s racist and anti-worker agenda. The Saint Paul rally was held in front if the Minnesota State Capitol. The rallies took place on the same day in over 1200 cities around the U.S. as part of a national coordinated protest and drew crowd sizes that far surpassed expectations.

The “Hands Off” rallies were initially called to protest Trump’s agenda and his first three months in office, which have seen a slew of attacks on the working class and oppressed people.

Many at the rally were there with signs and slogans opposing Trump’s handing over of the federal government to Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, who got his start with money from an apartheid emerald mine his parents ran in South Africa. Musk has been installed by Trump to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been given access to confidential and personal data for millions of Americans and has used the position to slash services and jobs in the federal government.

Recently, Trump unilaterally and illegally stripped over 700,000 federal workers of their union and their contract. The grievances against Trump’s agenda and actions are many, and the protest reflected that with signs and speeches, while raising the broader slogan “Hands off!”

In addition to Saint Paul similar rallies were held in many cities across Minnesota and across the country. In the port city of Duluth, Minnesota, several thousand came to the event, and good attendance was reported from other cities around the state.

A wide range of speakers addressed the crowd from the stage, including labor leaders. MN AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham delivered a speech which ended with a call to come out to the May Day march being planned for May 1 by local immigrant rights and labor groups. Flyers were handed out through the crowd about the upcoming May Day march as well.

These rallies locally and nationally represent the largest protests to date since Trump took office.

#StPaulMN #MN #PeoplesStruggles #Trump #HandsOff