Thousands of people took a message to the streets of downtown Watsonville Saturday that they are not happy with President Trump and Elon Musk as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protests.
On just the 76th day of Trump’s presidency, more 1,000 such protests took place around the U.S, including Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., New York City and in a number of European cities, including Frankfurt, Berlin and London.
Organizers accused President Donald Trump and tech giant Elon Musk of believing “this country belongs to them.”
The administration has, among other things, conducted mass firings of hundreds of federal employees, defunded public libraries, conducted immigration raids nationwide, targeted Social Security and made cuts that will affect Medi-Cal and Medicaid.
The two-hour event in Watsonville drew a wide range of ages from students to seniors, waving signs demanding that the Trump administration keep its ‘Hands Off’ Panama, Canada, Greenland, U.S. democracy, diversity and human rights.
Protesters also carried signs saying, among other things, “Arrest Musk,” “Hand Off Social Security,” “If You Want Fascism, do nothing,” and “Books not Crooks.”
“Through a collective, we are going to defeat these billionaires that are taking our gains that we are making with our hands,” said Francisco Rodriguez. “They are taking the product that we create with our flesh and blood, and they want to keep it all, but we are here to say no.”
Rodriguez was one of one of several people to address the crowd.
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah laid out a blunt toll of the damage done so far by the administration.
“We’re seeing the end of access to health care and mental health services, the outing of queer students, the accomplishments and contributions of people of color, destroying our environment, showing of distrust of our institutions, our schools and our sciences, eliminating of protections for our students with disabilities, replacing the hope of our youth with cynicism and cutting benefits for the elderly.”
Kristin Klein of Watsonville showed up with her 94-year-old mother who was in a wheelchair, and carried a handmade sign reading, “I survived the Hitler Regime! Deja Vu, Wake Up America! Dethrone Trump.”
“Showing up is our duty,” Klein said. “We’re seeing Social Security endangered and Medicare. My mother called this out in 2015. She said, ‘I’ve seen this before; we’re in trouble.’”
Amy Newell of Watsonville said she came to protest the damage done by Trump and Musk.
“It’s going to take us decades to undo this and rebuild again, what Trump and Musk are happily wrecking,” she said. “I’m 77 years old and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
