‘50501’ protesters denounce Trump administration in nationwide rallies while supporting impacted communities
By Alaa Elassar and Kristin Chapman, CNN
(CNN) — A national day of action against President Donald Trump and his administration has united an outpouring of protesters across the country who are rallying in defiance of what they describe as a relentless assault on democratic institutions and civil liberties.
Over 80 protests were held at state capitols, courthouses and city halls in several states as part of the “50501” demonstrations – short for 50 protests, 50 states, one movement – condemning what they describe as Trump’s executive overreach, including deportations without due process, the dismantling of federal agencies and threats to higher education.
In addition to rallies, Saturday’s day of action saw communities coming together through food drives and donation campaigns, offering support to those most affected by the administration’s policies.
“We are sending a clear and urgent message to the country and to those in power: the people are paying attention, we are organizing, and we will not accept authoritarian overreach, fascist policy, or the dismantling of our rights under the Constitution,” Sarah Parker, one of the 50501’s national coordinators, told CNN.
“The administration’s continued targeting of marginalized communities, the criminalization of dissent, and the erosion of civil liberties demand a response — and this is ours.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for a comment.
In Washington, DC, protesters assembled outside the White House and the residence of Vice President JD Vance, who is currently in Rome, where he was meeting with a senior Vatican official on Saturday. Trump was at his golf club in Virginia.
Andy Zee, a spokesperson for Refuse Fascism, a group that organized a separate protest in DC on Saturday, told CNN a key concern is the failure to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador, back to the US, after the Trump administration’s declaration that he is “never coming back.”
The Trump administration has taken extraordinary measures to crack down on immigration, aggressively pressuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up the pace of migrant arrests and touting mass deportation plans. The recent crackdown has included mistakenly deporting Abrego Garcia.
Public outrage is intensifying over Abrego Garcia’s deportation, with mounting criticism about the lack of due process afforded to him and the US government’s resistance to facilitate his court-mandated return to the country – which could risk a constitutional crisis.
“The Trump fascist regime must go and we’re here to demand that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be released,” Zee said, as protesters behind him waved signs reading, “Give me liberty or give me death,” while cheering and chanting.
The 50501 Movement originated from a Reddit forum launched on January 25 that gave rise to a wave of nationwide protests led by grassroots organizations following Trump’s inauguration. What began as an online movement quickly spilled into the streets, with at least four major demonstrations in the past four months leading up to Saturday’s mass day of action.
On April 5, over 1,400 “Hands Off!” mass-action protests were held at federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security’s headquarters, parks and city halls throughout the US. Demonstrators had three demands: “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.”
Hundreds of “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations, also part of the wider movement against the Trump administration’s actions, have taken place in the US, Canada and Europe as activists ramp up their opposition to CEO Elon Musk’s efforts to slash federal government staffing and budgets.
“We are fighting back against a system that is failing the most vulnerable. We are fighting for democracy, for bodily autonomy, for freedom of expression, and for communities that have long been ignored and attacked by those in power,” Parker said. “This is not just a protest — this is a movement to reclaim our future.”
Protesters outraged by immigration policies and budget cuts
Outside the White House, a diverse group of protesters gathered Saturday to hear speeches and join together in chants such as “Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation,” and “The people united will never be defeated.”
One of these demonstrators was Bob, a 64-year-old who requested that his last name not be printed out of fear of being fired from his role at the Department of Defense, where he has worked for the past 35 years.
While he is “fiscally conservative but socially liberal,” Bob said the Trump administration’s cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs drove him to rally for a political cause for the first time in his life.
Since Trump took office, his administration has been vocal about its efforts to cut federal spending. Thousands of federal workers have been laid off or issued immediate termination notifications as part of Trump and Musk’s plan to downsize the government.
The Social Security Administration, responsible for monthly benefits to around 73 million Americans, is also now in turmoil after a massive reorganization, including the cutting of thousands of employees.
“I feel like people are veterans that come to serve our country earn benefits. They deserve to have those benefits provided for them, and the VA medical health service provides those benefits,” he said. “Ten years ago, we were complaining about how long the waits were in the VA and stuff, and how the VA wasn’t funded properly. Now, 10 years later, we’re cutting over to staff by 80,000 — that’s ridiculous.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins acknowledged in an interview last month that laying off 80,000 VA employees was “a goal, our target.”
Bob also described Trump’s evolving tariff policies as “pretty pathetic,” blaming them for the loss of “a lot” of money in his 401K and also part of the reason he plans to take on an additional job instead of retiring soon.
Another demonstrator, Gihad Elgendy, expressed outrage over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the deportations of “people for using their First Amendment rights, and other people being deported without due process.”
Elgendy is referring to the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian refugee whose green card was revoked over his involvement in demonstrations at Columbia University, which has raised chilling questions about the exercise of the constitutionally protected right to free speech.
Elgendy also criticized the Trump administration for the wrongful deportation of Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, and said he believes Trump “could easily pressure El Salvador to bring him back” if he wanted to.
Emily Yanisko, a demonstrator and education professor for graduate students at American University, said she was inspired to protest by Harvard University’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s demands outlined in a letter sent to the university on April 11.
The demands included reforming programs having what the administration referred to in the letter to as “egregious records of antisemitism or other bias,” and halting DEI at the university.
“It was about time somebody stood up to (the Trump administration),” Yanisko said.
“The amount of weight that (Harvard has), they actually have the wherewithal to be able to stop them potentially,” she said. “Whereas the university I work at is much smaller and it doesn’t necessarily have the money or the resources to be able to stand up.”
Yanisko, who held a sign that said, “Hands off higher education, stay strong Harvard,” suggested universities “come together” to stand against the Trump administration’s threats to higher education because “education is so important for the development of a democratic society.”
“If we’re not allowed to teach the truth, and we’re not allowed to prepare our students to go into the world and do good works, then what are we doing?” she asked.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Sarah Dewberry and Jenna Monnin contributed to this report.
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