A movement to protest the early actions of President Donald Trump’s administration took off Wednesday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a federal courthouse in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Indiana.
Protesters waved signs decrying Trump; billionaire Elon Musk, the leader of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency; and Project 2025, a hard-right playbook for American government and society.
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“Democracy is not a spectator sport! Do something,” said a sign held aloft by one demonstrator in Philadelphia.
The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media issued calls for action, with messages such as “reject fascism” and “defend our democracy.”
Outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, a crowd of about 500 people gathered in freezing temperatures. They denounced everything from Trump’s plans for Gaza to the rollback of rights for transgender neighbors and recent efforts to deport people who are in the U.S. illegally.
Catie Miglietti, from the Ann Arbor area, said Musk’s access to the Treasury Department data was especially concerning to her. She painted a sign depicting Musk puppeteering Trump from his outraised arm — evoking Musk’s straight-arm gesture during a January speech that some have interpreted as a Nazi salute.
“If we don’t stop it and get Congress to do something, it’s an attack on democracy,” she said.
Kelsey Brianne, a key organizer of the Michigan rally, learned about the protest movement Sunday night and has been coordinating speakers and safety protocols.
“I want to look back at this time and say that I did something and I didn’t just sit back,” Brianne said on the eve of the protests.
Trump has signed a series of executive orders in the first couple of weeks of his new term on everything from trade and immigration to climate change. As Democrats begin to raise their voice in opposition to Trump’s agenda, protests have also begun.
On Sunday, thousands of people marched against Trump’s plan for large-scale deportations in Southern California, including in downtown Los Angeles, where protests shut down a major freeway for hours. ___
Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, and Gabriel Sandoval in Phoenix contributed to this report. Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
