Thousands of protesters gathered around the U.S. Saturday in a series of “Hands Off” demonstrations organized by Democratic activists seeking to mobilize against the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the mass firings of federal workers led by the Department of Government Efficiency.
In a statement released ahead of the event, organizers accused President Donald Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk of believing “this country belongs to them.”
“They’re taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now,” they added.
Protesters gathered in Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and other cities nationwide, holding signs with slogans such as “Fight Oligarchy,” “Unity over division” and “Hands off our jobs.” Demontrations also took place in cities abroad, including in Paris, Berlin and Lisbon, Portugal.
At the Washington, D.C., rally, speakers — including several Democratic members of Congress — rallied attendees, including American Federation of Government Employees President Everett B. Kelley.
“We will not be silenced. We will not bow down. We’ll stand up and say hands off our union. We’ll stand up and say hands off our contract. We’ll stand up and say hands off our democracy, hands off our freedom,” Kelley told the crowd.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Responding to an X post that accused “Democrat billionaires” of funding the protests and called for them to be “held legally accountable for the violence and vandalism,” Musk simply replied on Saturday: “They will be.”
Trump appointed Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, to lead the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in January. The agency, which previously known as the U.S. Digital Service, has since abruptly laid off thousands of federal workers and shuttered various government programs.
The layoffs and cuts have prompted similar waves of protests in recent weeks.
Last weekend, protests broke out at Tesla dealerships across the country. (Tesla is one of several companies Musk owns).
Shouting matches over the cuts and Musk’s role within executive branch have erupted at GOP town halls in recent weeks, as concerns pile about the federal government’s stability.
Amid Musk’s controversial layoffs, the Trump administration has stepped up high-profile immigration raids and deportations.
Notably, the administration has apprehended foreign students at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities and revoked student visas in an unprecedented fashion. The administration also accidentally deported a Maryland man, who has lived in the U.S. since 2011 and holds a green card, to a high-security jail in El Salvador.
Selina Guevara contributed.
