For the second time this month, hundreds of thousands of people in hundreds of cities across the United States protested in opposition to the threat of fascism under the Trump administration. From major cities to small towns, at virtually every state capitol, and at several Tesla dealerships, workers, students and retirees demonstrated against escalating attacks on democratic rights and rising inequality, and in defense of immigrants.
While tens of thousands protested in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, thousands more protested in rural and mid-sized towns. Hundreds rallied in Bloomington, Indiana; 150 people protested in Crossville, Tennessee; some 2,000 people protested in Nashville, Tennessee; and over 1,000 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Roughly 2,000 people demonstrated in Boise, Idaho, and Albany, New York. In rural Washington, Iowa, located between Davenport and Des Moines, some 75 people spoke out against the Trump administration, more than twice as many as participated in the April 5 protest, according to a local resident.
Saturday’s protests were called by a constellation of organizations associated with the “50501 Movement,” which claimed to have organized over 700 protests throughout the country and a few internationally. Over 100 protests were called under the “Tesla Takedown” banner, aimed at crippling the sales and stock price of electric vehicle maker Tesla, owned by the fascist billionaire and Trump accomplice Elon Musk.
The overall size of the protests was smaller than the massive April 5 demonstrations, which drew an estimated 3 million people. This was due in large part to the actions of the main organizers affiliated with the Democratic Party, who sought to sow confusion and fear among potential attendees.
Leading up to this weekend’s demonstrations, the leadership of the 50501 movement—which has been largely co-opted by the Democratic Party-aligned Political Revolution organization—tried preemptively to cancel the protests. In a blog post on April 9, the group said it was calling for a “day of action” on April 19, noting that “individual/local chapters can choose to protest if they want,” but that the national leadership was not “doing a big national push.”
Instead of protesting, 50501 organizers suggested “donating to a local organization,” “hosting a picnic,” or starting a “book club.”
On April 18, the 50501 organizers posted on social media that they had “reason to believe that events on 4/19 and/or the 50501 Movement may be misrepresented by the Trump Administration in an attempt to justify the use of military force.”
The group said it had “specific and credible threats involving aggressive policing, ICE presence, and even the potential deployment of military force against peaceful demonstrators in Washington, D.C., and other locations on April 19.”
Upon his inauguration in January, Trump issued an executive order declaring a national “emergency” at the southern border due to a non-existent “invasion.” As part of that order, Trump ordered two of his fascist cabinet officials, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, to prepare a report advising Trump whether or not he should invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act to deploy the active-duty military within the United States to arrest “immigrants” and those who oppose Trump. On Friday night, CNN and other mainstream press outlets reported that Noem and Hegseth were going to recommend that Trump not invoke martial law on Sunday, April 20.
While threats of police violence coupled with the sabotage of 50501 organizers depressed turnout, those who came out on Saturday expressed a more militant attitude and willingness to fight against the Trump administration and the capitalist system that created him.
World Socialist Web Site reporters and Socialist Equality Party (US) members intervened at protests across the country, distributing thousands of leaflets and speaking with hundreds of workers and youth. We will continue to publish reports and videos from rallies across the US.
Thousands protest in downtown Chicago: “The only answer is solidarity across working classes”
Thousands gathered Saturday to oppose the Trump administration in Daley Plaza in Chicago. Smaller demonstrations took place in the suburbs.
Protesters spoke with the WSWS on their opposition to oligarchy and fascism and the need to stop attacks on immigrants and reverse the deportation and imprisonment of Maryland resident and father Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Several created signs marking the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution and drew connections to the struggle to defend democracy today.
Rally attendees spoke at length with WSWS reporters on the need for a struggle for socialism through the building of a party of and for the working class. One young man expressed his desire for such a party and the need for unity among working people in order to defend social rights that were won in bitter struggle. “And we need so much more,” he added.
Another protester spoke out against those “with profound economic power” who seek to “fragment the working class on the basis of race and identity.”
1,500 protest in San Diego, California: “The Fourth Amendment covers all people, not just citizens”
In San Diego, 1,500 gathered at the Waterfront park to protest the undemocratic and anti-constitutional policies of the Trump administration.
WSWS reporters spoke with workers, including food service workers, nurses, courthouse workers and film set technicians, as well as with youth and retirees.
Many expressed concerns about deportations, citing Abrego Garcia, the attacks on freedom of speech, the gutting of social programs such as Social Security, and the broad attacks on healthcare and education. Reporters passed out 500 leaflets and invitations to the May 3 online international May Day rally.
A number of attendees stated support for the May Day rally and agreed that the threat from the far right was an international process and required a globally coordinated fight.
Over 500 rally in Oakland, California: “You don’t have to convince me the problem is capitalism”
On Saturday, over 500 people rallied in downtown Oakland, California to protest against the fascistic Trump administration. Among attendees there was a palpable sense of anxiousness to take effective action against the administration’s drive toward dictatorship.
Unlike previous protests since Trump’s inauguration, there were few signs of any involvement by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a faction of the Democratic Party, did not appear to have a presence. In its place were a few more “radical” pseudo-left organizations, such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the Peace and Freedom Party, and a few Stalinists.
The WSWS/SEP team set up a literature table, which attracted the attention of many protest attendees, with some going on to purchase copies of the publications on display. Many attendees expressed interest in the WSWS’s defense of the two American Revolutions, in opposition to the 1619 Project, while others expressed strong agreement on uniting Jewish and Arab workers in a joint struggle against Zionism and imperialism.
Several demonstrators who spoke with reporters for the WSWS admitted to being moved to protest for the first time in their lives.
One protester, who had previously engaged in climate change activism, told the WSWS, “You don’t have to convince me the the problem is capitalism.”
He went on to express an interest in learning more about the distinction between the internationalist politics of Trotskyism and the nationalist politics of Stalinism.
This call to unite workers across national boundaries to defeat fascism won wide support among the protesters. While many diverse viewpoints were expressed, none of those who spoke with the WSWS attempted to defend capitalism or the Democratic Party. Many recognized a connection between the decline of capitalism and the ruling class’ drive toward fascism and war.
Felicia said,
Personally, I believe that fascism is inevitable when a capitalist empire is in decline. And so what we’re seeing here is the deterioration of the state being taken over by a con man, essentially. And it’s not a future thing. It’s already happening. You know, he sent [Abrego Garcia] to El Salvador. No due process. Violation of the 19th Amendment. And then a court order says, “Hey, you can’t do that. That’s unconstitutional.” And he says, “I’m not going to follow that order.”
The Constitution is what the people established and agreed to. And if he doesn’t go along with that, then he’s a tyrant. And he absolutely has to be stopped. So you absolutely have to fight back. You have no choice because otherwise it just it’s like the never ending story. It’ll just keep eating away and eating away.
She added:
I don’t think things will get better unless we work for it. If I could say one thing, it would be about how they hold their power and the people who give them that power. Because it’s all people all the way down. It takes people to fire guns. It takes people to shoot rockets. So be strategic. Don’t be symbolic. Don’t make your protest actions be only holding signs. Get together. Mobilize. And look at your sources of power. And leverage them. And fight for the workers. You’ve got to organize.
Elizabeth told the WSWS she had never participated in a political protest before.
Explaining why she came out on Saturday, she said:
We are already seeing people lose their lives, their rights, their right to due process, especially. People being disappeared and taken away. We’ve seen things already, like transgender being in the military. Just a general disrespect of the basic rights of people in the nation. And so, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it’ll continue. I think that it’s really important. I think it’s really important. Let me stand up and speak out against it.
Elizabeth concluded:
I don’t think there’s a way you can really move things back at this point. There’s no way we can go back to the system as it was 20, 30 years ago. Because at that point, it’s a sword of Damocles. You’re just waiting for it to happen all over again. It’s shocking. I think we need a really huge shift in the way that we treat politics and and how we deal with the system that we have right now.
Postal workers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania distribute hundreds of statements calling for a mass socialist movement to halt Trump’s dictatorship
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania state capital saw its largest protest since the Trump administration took office three months ago. Hundreds of protesters lined the street and voiced their anger at the government’s attacks on the federal workforce, immigrants and civil liberties. Many also expressed disgust with the Democratic Party’s lack of effort and collaboration with Trump’s egregious assault on the Constitution and social rights of working people.
In a highly significant development, postal workers affiliated with the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) distributed hundreds of statements from the World Socialist Web Site denouncing the fascist billionaires Trump and Elon Musk for their efforts to defund and privatize dozens of federal programs.
In opposition to the impotent response of the trade union bureaucracies, which are doing nothing in the face of Trump’s dictatorial and job-killing rampage, the statement distributed by several workers called for building “rank-and-file committees in every workplace and neighborhood, independent of the union bureaucracies and the Democratic Party, to organize strikes, mass demonstrations, and the defense of democratic rights.”
A worker from the Volvo construction equipment manufacturer in nearby Shippensburg told reporters at the rally his main concern was over layoffs that have been announced at Volvo’s Mack Trucks subsidiary in Macungie, Pennsylvania. The facility is laying off over 350 workers, citing Trump’s tariff war as a major reason.
A retiree told the rank-and-file workers that she had voted for Trump but had recently learned of his freezing of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s payments for Section 8 housing. Holding a letter from her property manager, she explained that her rent was set to increase by $500 next month and that she was too old to look for work. “This is not what I voted for,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Over 2,000 protest in Seattle, Washington: “The whole system has to be replaced with socialism”
More than 2,000 people joined the “We the People Means Everyone” protest in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood at Seattle Central Community College.
The majority of the hand-made signs drew attention to the escalating terror and repression of immigrants and student protesters while drawing attention to the broader implications. One sign read: “We are Standing at the Abyss—Trump is Abducting Immigrants, Int’l Students and Detaining Lawyers, Int’l Students.”
Another protester’s sign read, “Homegrowns are Next.”
The WSWS/SEP team received a warm response, distributed hundreds of leaflets calling on participants to attend the upcoming May Day Rally, and attracted many to the literature table.
Many young protesters voiced opposition to the Democratic Party’s silence and complicity. Tina summed up the views of many when she told SEP campaigners:
I have been dissatisfied for a long time over the role of the Democratic Party in supporting the genocide in Gaza. Bernie Sanders’ performance in Idaho disgusted me. I’m very interested in a real alternative to both parties. It’s the whole system and it has to be replaced with socialism.
2,000 protest in Detroit: “We have to fight with everything we have”
Over 2,000 people gathered at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit to march and protest against Trump’s fascist attacks on immigrants, students and democratic rights. Similar protests and rallies were taking place across the state, including Lansing and Grand Rapids, as well as working class Detroit suburbs like Trenton and Livonia. The turnout emerged despite efforts of Democratic Party-affiliated organizations to call off the protests in the hours before they took place.
At Hart Plaza, there was broad opposition to fascism and the attack on democratic rights. Many placards called for the defense of immigrants and pro-Palestinian student protesters currently under attack. Many signs drew on the heritage of the American and French Revolutions. Typical was one that read, “They want to give us Germany 1939, we’ll give them France 1789.” Many others denounced the oligarchs such as Elon Musk who are backing Trump’s fascistic attempt to overthrow constitutional rule in the US.
A woman at the Detroit rally told WSWS reporters, “We definitely need free healthcare, this is ridiculous. ... So many people lose the little bit of money they have trying to pay for medications, treatments.”
She continued:
Everything is skyrocketing and the rich are just getting richer and richer and richer. And they keep getting tax breaks ... and we keep getting poorer.
My main concern is my granddaughters. They are going to end up in prisons in El Salvador and we are citizens. He’s talking about building prisons to put Americans there. That’s insane.
There was very visible opposition to the genocide in Gaza and the complicity of US politicians from both parties in backing Israel’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinians.
One noticeable element in Detroit was the clear vacuum of leadership among the official organizers, centered around pseudo-left organizations in or on the periphery of the Democratic Party. Over the course of the rally, two very different perspectives were presented to protesters. Even though official organizers prevented socialists from speaking from the main rally platform, Socialist Equality Party members persisted and spoke to the crowd independently.
Leading SEP members Jerry White and Lawrence Porter gave speeches at the event that denounced the complicity of the Democratic Party and the trade union bureaucracy in facilitating Trump’s attacks, and called for a broad turn to the international working class and a fight for socialism. The urgent need to turn to the working class, and not the Democratic Party, was well received by those who listened to the speeches. Many protesters stopped by the SEP-IYSSE table to purchase literature, give donations, and sign up for the May 3 May Day Rally.
Protesters chant “Down with Trump” in Lansing, Michigan
Over 2,000 people rallied, marched and protested against the Trump administration on the lawn of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Saturday afternoon.
Students, workers, veterans and retirees came from across the state with hand-made signs demanding an end to Trump’s reign of terror against immigrants and attacks on democratic rights. The prevailing sentiment among the protesters was angry opposition to Trump’s attempt to establish an authoritarian and fascist dictatorship in the US.
People carried signs demanding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from prison in El Salvador and demanding due process rights for international students such as Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk—kidnapped and imprisoned for thought crimes. Protesters also denounced the cuts and layoffs led by Trump’s advisor and mega-billionaire Elon Musk.
The demonstration took place on the 250th anniversary of “the shot heard round the world.” There were signs that referenced the US Constitution and the similarities between Trump’s assault on democratic government and the attacks by the British monarchy on the American colonies.
Some protesters denounced the Democratic Party for refusing to act against Trump.
Tina, a former Veterans Affairs nurse, pointed to the attack on healthcare and the spread of measles cases throughout the country.
A resident of Flint said she opposed the attacks on immigrants and the disappearing of immigrant workers. She also pointed to the irrationality of the tariffs that are causing workers to be laid off.
After a sizable crowd had assembled, Tim Rivers, a member of the SEP and writer for the WSWS, spoke from the Capitol steps and evoked an enthusiastic response. He pointed to the historic turning point represented by Trump’s return to power and the necessity for a break by the working class from both capitalist parties and a fight for socialism.
Rivers said:
The Trump administration reflects the naked rule of the capitalist oligarchy. The ruling class, faced with deepening economic, social and geopolitical breakdown, is turning to fascism and dictatorship... Internationally, the Trump administration is preparing for world war. Its trade war measures are aimed at crippling China and forcing every country into alignment with US imperialist interests.
Rivers’ speech was punctuated with cheering and chanting from the crowd, including, “Down with Trump!” and “Free, Free Palestine!”
Rivers also denounced the Democratic Party and Bernie Sanders for their role in attempting to block a movement of the working class against capitalism. He said:
While Trump and his fascist collaborators around the world are moving rapidly to tear up constitutional government, the Democratic Party has been facilitating the moves toward dictatorship by directly voting in favor of Trump’s funding bill and trying to block a mass movement against it from coming into existence.
A campaign team from the Socialist Equality Party, the only political party visibly present at the event, received a warm reception from the protesters, hundreds of whom took copies of the leaflet, “Build a Socialist Movement to Stop Trump’s Dictatorship.” Others stopped by the SEP literature table, gave donations and purchased copies of party books and pamphlets.
Over 50,000 protest in New York City: “The two-party system is a good way to descend into fascism”
At least 50,000 people protested in New York City, with crowds assembling in front of the Main Branch of the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue in Manhattan and marching towards Central Park, filling 15 blocks of the 100-foot-wide Madison Avenue.
Homemade signs and chants denounced Trump’s attack on immigrants, his efforts to impose fascist dictatorship, the disastrous economic policies, and the continued genocide in Gaza.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) and Socialist Equality Party supporters intervened in the demonstration on Saturday, distributing over 1,000 statements, selling literature, and promoting the upcoming International May Day Online Rally on May 3. SEP members gave unofficial speeches stressing the need to break from the Democratic Party that has enabled Trump, and instead turn to the working class in the US and internationally in a fight against capitalism, the root cause of dictatorship and war.
Among workers and youth we spoke with, there was clearly a leftward shift in consciousness and growing determination to struggle against Trump’s budding dictatorship.
A political science student denounced both the Republicans and Democrats for facilitating the rise of Trump, stating, “The two-party system is a good way to descend into fascism.” Noting the radical character of students, she stressed the need for them to turn to the working class, stating, “The workers are the people that this system is an attack on, and that applies to straight white men who are in the working class, that’s true.”
A pro-Palestine protester told the WSWS, “This regime is targeting people in the United States for their speech, for their thoughts.”
Another protester sharply condemned the Trump administration’s arrest and deportation of legal resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, stating, “We thought the government had to play by the rules. It turns out they don’t. Kilmar is the canary in the coal mine. They just grabbed this guy. He’s a legal resident of Maryland... If they can do it to him, they can do it to everyone else.”
Washington, D.C. “Democrats are not representing us, and they’re not a party of the people”
Several thousand protesters gathered throughout the nation’s capital on Saturday, despite efforts by lead protest organizers affiliated with the official “50501” group and the Democratic Party distance themselves from these events. Despite the deliberate effort to suppress turnout, thousands still attended, with a large contingent shutting down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Many rally attendees voiced opposition and outrage toward the Democratic Party’s unwillingness to fight Trump.
“I don’t see how Democrats are in a position to ask us to vote for them. They’re not representing us, and they’re not a party of the people,” stated Cheryl, who attended one of the rallies held that day.
Cheryl initially showed some interest in supporting Bernie Sanders’ initiatives, including stunts he has introduced in Congress posturing as an opponent of the Gaza genocide.
Cheryl expressed disgust when told about Sanders allowing anti-genocide protesters to be arrested at a recent “fighting oligarchy” rally in Idaho. “We need an alternative,” she stated, referring to recent Democratic Party rallies elsewhere where anti-genocide protesters have been removed for “calling out” the speakers for supporting the Gaza genocide.
In Richmond, Virginia, WSWS reporters spoke with workers and young people about Trump’s dictatorial presidency and promoted the International May Day Online Rally as the only viable alternative.
Derek attended the protest in Richmond, Virginia, and spoke powerfully in defense of immigrants and the working class, stating:
It’s the erosion of our rights—the rights of legal residents, soon the rights of naturalized citizens, and then when it is too late, natural-born citizens, because the thing with them is Trump, according to him, you can’t be born with citizenship if you have the wrong parents. But you can shell out $5 million and get citizenship, no problem.
Many participants at both rallies stopped by the Socialist Equality Party’s literature, purchasing works by Leon Trotsky about the fight against fascism, opposition to the Trump administration, and historical works relating to the Trotskyist movement and its fight against Stalinism.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania “The government doesn’t want opposition to what they are doing”
About 2,000 people joined the anti-Trump protest in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon. Organizers of the protest spoke on Trump’s attack on science and healthcare. The protest began at Schenley Plaza with both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University on either side and several of Pittsburgh’s largest hospitals within walking distance.
The protest attracted many students, educators, researchers, and healthcare professionals who spoke about the impact of Trump’s cuts to science and his attacks on universities.
A young nurse who started working at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic said that she came because of attacks on healthcare. “COVID was bad, it was horrible, but what will happen during the next pandemic when he is cutting all the research and attacking basic knowledge?”
She pointed to the ongoing measles outbreak, which has already claimed the lives of two unvaccinated children in Texas, stating, “This is what happens when you tell people over and over again that vaccines are not safe. These have been developed by science over the years, and people need them.”
Many people came over to the Socialist Equality Party literature table. Many were attracted to signs and literature concerning the ongoing genocide in Gaza and defending immigrants’ rights.
An older woman said, “I’m glad to see people who are here for other issues. There are so many things that Trump is doing; we need to speak out against all of them.”
A group of students spoke to WSWS reporters about attacks on international students. “It has created a climate of fear; people are afraid to speak up. The government doesn’t want opposition to what they are doing.”
In reply to a WSWS reporter recounting the role of the Democrats in supporting the genocide, spearheading the slander that anti-genocide protesters were “antisemitic,” one of the students responded, the Democrats “are part of the problem. That is why people didn’t vote for Harris; they are all out for the rich and don’t care about the people.”
A Marine veteran said that the most important thing was to defend the Constitution. “He is attacking the right to free speech and due process. People shouldn’t be arrested and deported for what they say, and everyone should have the opportunity to defend themselves in court.”
Further reports will be added to this page on Sunday. Please share this article widely on social media, as well as all the videos embedded, and help promote the upcoming International May Day Online Rally.