Tens of thousands march during Boston’s installment of national “Hands Off!” protest on April 5
Protesters’ concerns were wide-ranging, but one theme recurred: the perceived erosion of democratic norms
Sabine Chu–The Tech
Sabine Chu–The Tech
On Saturday, April 5 at 11 a.m., thousands of protesters gathered at the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Common to protest the actions of the second Trump administration . This event was one of 1,300 “Hands Off!” protests across the country. National progressive advocacy organizations such as Indivisible and MoveOn, as well as labor unions and civil rights groups, were among the coalition that organized the event. The Boston Police Department estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 people came to the three-hour protest, while CBS News reported nearly 100,000 attendees were present.
A marching band set the tune before the protest’s official start. At 11:08 a.m., Reverend Mariama White-Hammond and Reggi Alkiewicz, the rally’s emcees, spoke to the crowd. White-Hammond and Alkiewicz called for unity, emphasized the power of “love” over “fear,” and asked participants to introduce themselves to each other. They also highlighted their favorite signs in the crowd. Posters included references to federal funding cuts or changes to foreign policy, as well as more humorous jabs at President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Vice President JD Vance. One sign read, “Neuter DOGE,” a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency, while a nearby poster told Musk to “go steal data on Mars.”
Around 11:19 a.m., Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll came onto the stage to highlight the Bay State’s diversity and progressive policies. Citing Massachusetts’s role in the “invention” of “democracy,” Driscoll emphasized the importance of immigrants, labor, and women to the state. After Driscoll’s speech, the protesters marched to Boston’s Government Center along Tremont Street. At 12:30 p.m., speakers including Senator Ed Markey, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and Mayor Michelle Wu addressed the crowd. According to Boston.com, Wu stated, “This is our city and you will never break us.”
The Tech spoke with several participants during the first hour of the protest. Their concerns ranged from the environment to Social Security to education to Ukraine, but one theme came up repeatedly: the perceived erosion of democratic norms. Several participants cited the recent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of pro-Palestinian legal immigrants, including Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk. (Tufts, which is located in Medford, has declared support for Ozturk.) Other protesters highlighted the administration’s crackdown on law firms. Responses have been edited slightly for clarity.
Gretchen Bowder ’87 said, “The things that Trump and his cabinet of goons are doing to this country are frankly un-American.” Bowder, who heard about “Hands Off!” from word-of-mouth and email lists, believes that the Trump administration is “stripping everything that I believed to be good and true about the United States away.”
“Our enemies used to be authoritarian.” Dan Osterman said. “Now the United States’ friends are authoritarian because we have an authoritarian man in the White House.” Referencing the Enabling Act of 1933 that played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, Bill Ivey stated, “I think we’re long past it.” He continued, “We better stop enabling.”
When asked what kind of world she hoped her one-year-old and four-year-old children would grow up in, Alex Reiter answered, “[A world where] we have a functioning government that has working checks and balances, where Congress works, and where climate change is something that everybody believes in and is actively working to fight.” Andrew Reiter chimed in, “We hope they grow up in a world.”
Unlike the Reiters, Denise Robinson opted to bring her two elementary school-age daughters to “Hands Off!”. Holding several signs in a child’s handwriting, she told The Tech that she hoped they would grow up to “see a world where we don’t all have to be the same, and where social progress can continue to move forward instead of backwards.”
“Hands Off!” was Azariah Price’s first protest. She shared, “If I’m living in fantasyland, everything will stop immediately.” Noting that this outcome seemed unlikely, Price said, “Hopefully everyone in these buildings is going to see this, and just think, damn, maybe I can do something to make my country better.” On the other hand, Jessica Nichols has been attending rallies since her childhood in Washington D.C. during the 1960s. Nichols, who felt a “sense of buoyant, positive energy” at the protest, said, “Being active also means putting our bodies in space in real time.” She wore a smock reading, “Unbought and unbossed,” quoting former U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm.
Several participants expressed frustration with their elected officials. Christian Ortiz told The Tech that he believed “people in Washington” were “scared for their jobs, so they’d rather stand with someone telling lies than stand up for what is right.” Sarah Thornington was more hopeful, but still thought that Democratic politicians “just don’t really know” what to do.
More broadly, many protesters felt that “Hands Off!” was meant to increase awareness across the country. When The Tech asked Chris Lee-Rodriguez what he hoped would occur after the protest, his answer was interrupted by a cry of “This is what democracy looks like!” He gestured and said, “That.” A teacher who has attended several protests for federal workers in recent months, Lee-Rodrigeuz believes that “the point is to make noise and let people know what how people feel.”
Isabelle Perks and Cassidy Thurston are students at Brookline High School. Perks shared, “If every single person says, ‘one person’s not going to do anything,’ then nobody shows up, and then it doesn’t do anything. But the more people that show up, the bigger the movement.” On attending high school during the Trump presidency, Perks said, “It’s such a scary time,” but she also believes that it is the right time to “develop your views and your opinions and where you fall.”
Tabitha Temple attended “Hands Off!” with her son, Ray Temple. While Tabitha shared that they feel that the administration is having direct effects on their lives, especially because Ray is transgender, she also said, “We care about everything that indirectly affects us or doesn’t affect us at all.” Ray hopes that the protest will empower “average” people to increase advocacy efforts, sharing, “I would tell anyone at my middle school that if they know a queer or trans kid, or a kid from an immigrant background, they should make sure that they’re safe, at school and at home, and to stick up for them.”
Although Hugh Heisler doubts that “any of these demonstrations are going to change Trump’s efforts to undermine our democracy,” he hopes that “people coming out and expressing their opposition to what’s happening may have the effect of changing the minds of people who are still open.” Heisler said, “Looking around and seeing all these people is the first time I’ve been optimistic in the past three months.”