Thousands rally in Milwaukee as part of nationwide “Hands Off!” demonstrations against Trump and Musk

Crowds of people angry about the way Donald Trump and South African oligarch Elon Musk are running the country rallied in Milwaukee and scores of American cities on April 5 in the biggest day of demonstrations yet by an opposition movement trying to regain its momentum after the shock of the Republican’s brutal first weeks in office.

The “Hands Off!” demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans, and elections activists. The rallies appeared peaceful, with no reports of arrests.

In Milwaukee, local organizers drew one of the largest turnouts in the nation as more than 9,000 demonstrators filled Wisconsin Avenue, which was shut down for a couple blocks in front of the Federal Courthouse. Residents from across the city’s neighborhoods arrived with homemade signs and demands ranging from reproductive justice to voting rights and free expression.

“This is a consequential moment for our country. Now is the time for Milwaukee communities to come together in a big way to stand for fundamental rights, not just for the privileged, but for everyone. This protest ensures lawmakers, oligarchs, and those in authority hear the people clearly: Hands off our bodies, our expression, our votes, our future. Milwaukee is taking a stand,” said Ben Dombrowski, lead organizer of Milwaukee’s “Hands Off!” event.

U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore addressed the crowd from the courthouse steps. She evoked memories of the civil rights movement in Milwaukee during the 1960s, when she had participated in daily marches and protests.

She praised the crowd’s energy and resolve, and pointed to one protest sign that read, “So many issues, so little cardboard!” Moore reminded those gathered that organized resistance had always been part of Milwaukee’s identity.

“When they told us that they were closing down departments. When they told us to just lay down and take it. What did we do? We fought back,” Moore said. “Right now, we are fighting, and we are winning.”

From the National Mall and Midtown Manhattan to Boston Common and multiple state capitols, thousands of protesters assailed Trump and Musk – who most Americans consider a shadow president, for their illegal actions on government downsizing, the economy, immigration, and human rights. In Seattle, in the shadow of the city’s iconic Space Needle, protesters held signs with slogans like “Fight the oligarchy.”

Demonstrators voiced anger over the Trump regime’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people, and cut funding for health programs.

Since taking office on January 20, Trump and Musk have inflicted significant damage on both the United States and the global order. Trump’s alignment with authoritarian figures has escalated tensions abroad while eroding democracy at home.

Despite repeatedly boasting that he could end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine “within 24 hours,” he has instead deepened his ties to Vladimir Putin, praising the Russian dictator and promoting policies that undercut NATO unity and democratic governance in Eastern Europe.

Rather than seeking peace, Trump has used the conflict as a political tool, offering rhetorical support for Putin’s regime while weakening U.S. commitments to Ukraine and its allies.

Meanwhile, critical infrastructure has been dismantled by Musk under the guise of “streamlining,” resulting in chaos across federal agencies and reduced public access to vital services.

Musk, a Trump adviser and financial benefactor who owns Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform X, has played a key role in the criminal campaign to dismantle the federal government as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He falsely claims he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars, while stealing private records and destroying infrastructure that allows his interests to profit enormously.

Musk and Trump’s coordinated efforts have sparked economic instability, triggered international trade rifts, and emboldened autocratic regimes worldwide. Wall Street analysts warn that the administration’s volatility has already begun eroding investor confidence and weakening the U.S. dollar’s standing in global markets.

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group, criticized the regime’s treatment of the LBGTQ+ community at the rally at the National Mall, where Democratic members of Congress also took the stage.

“The attacks that we’re seeing, they’re not just political. They are personal, y’all,” Robinson said. “They’re trying to ban our books, they’re slashing HIV prevention funding, they’re criminalizing our doctors, our teachers, our families, and our lives.”

“We don’t want this America, y’all,” Robinson added. “We want the America we deserve, where dignity, safety, and freedom belong not to some of us, but to all of us.”

In Boston, demonstrators brandished signs such as “Hands off our democracy” and “Hands off our Social Security.”

Mayor Michelle Wu said she does not want her children and others’ to live in a world in which threats and intimidation are government tactics and values like diversity and equality are under attack.

“I refuse to accept that they could grow up in a world where immigrants like their grandma and grandpa are automatically presumed to be criminals,” Wu said.

Roger Broom, 66, a retiree from Delaware County, Ohio, was one of hundreds who rallied at the Statehouse in Columbus. He said he used to be a Reagan Republican but has been turned off by Trump.

“He’s tearing this country apart,” Broom said. “It’s just an administration of grievances.”

Hundreds of people also demonstrated in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a few miles from Trump’s golf course in Jupiter, where he spent the morning at the club’s Senior Club Championship. People lined both sides of PGA Drive, encouraging cars to honk and chanting slogans against Trump.

“They need to keep their hands off of our Social Security,” said Archer Moran of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

“The list of what they need to keep their hands off of is too long,” Moran said. “And it’s amazing how soon these protests are happening since he’s taken office.”

The president planned to go golfing again on April 6, according to the White House.

Activists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Trump and Musk multiple times since Trump returned to office.

But before April 5 the opposition movement had yet to produce a mass mobilization like the Women’s March in 2017, which brought thousands of women to Washington after Trump’s first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis in 2020.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, protesters said they were supporting a variety of causes, from Social Security and education to immigration and women’s reproductive rights.

“Regardless of your party, regardless of who you voted for, what’s going on today, what’s happening today is abhorrent,” said Britt Castillo, 35, of Charlotte. “It’s disgusting, and as broken as our current system might be, the way that the current administration is going about trying to fix things — it is not the way to do it. They’re not listening to the people.”