Hundreds of people carrying signs gathered outside the Humboldt County Courthouse on April 5, with the packed crowd stretching down both sides of the roadway from H Street down to I Street as part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protests.
From 6 years old to 90, protestors of all ages gathered on the sunny afternoon, chanting “Hands off” in response to a flurry of policies and wide-ranging cuts enacted by President Donald J. Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE.
“When civil rights are under attack, what do we do?” “Rise up, fight back,” the crowd chanted, alternating between different rights that they believe have come under threat since Trump’s inauguration.
A band struck up songs, including classics like “This Land is Your Land” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as other protestors who brought along their own instruments played along.
Palestine flags, LGBTQ+ flags, American flags and Black Lives Matter flags were flown around the rally as different groups of people came together to collectively protest the administration’s actions on a range of issues, from immigration and cuts to vital safety net programs to the perceived regression on decades of progress on civil, LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights, and the enacting of tariffs with dire economic reverberations.
“It just shows our community, there’s so many different types of people, whether it’s age, race, gender, sex, even political views,” Anisa Sanchez, a veterinary technician, said. “I know that there’s been some Republican friends of mine that are like, ‘Oh, maybe I should look into what you’re fighting for,’ because even they’re being affected. It’s literally everybody.”
Karen Barr Mast, lead organizer of the rally, quoted Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis as inspiration for the rally.
“This is a quote from John Lewis, ‘When you see something that’s not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up, you have to say something, you have to do something,’” Mast said.
Mast said eight different local unions, including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the American Postal Workers Union, the National Association Letter Carriers, Service Employees International, National Postal Mail Handlers, the National Rural Carriers Union and the American Federation of Teachers, were participating.
Mast also put together materials that were available at the rally to help individuals protect their Social Security information.
“If they lose their Social Security, all those people will be out in the streets because that’s what pays their rent and their basic needs,” Mast said. “That would be devastating for all the elderly people in this country who paid into it. It’s their money that they deserve.”
Mast, a cancer survivor, said Medicare is one of the things people are demonstrating to protect. “We depend on that for paying for our hospitalization,” she said.
Hollis, a 62-year-old retiree who asked only their first name be used, carried a sign reading, “Type 1 Diabetic I’m dead in days without insulin save Medicare please.”
Hollis explained, “… there is no way I can afford insulin. I live on disability in a Section 8 cabin, so I’m screwed. … I have an insulin pump. I use over 100 units a day. I have retinopathy, I’m going blind, I have neuropathy. I am a mess, and I am terrified of losing my Medicaid.”
Hollis said she was also there demonstrating for immigration rights and against the Israel-Hamas war.
Autumn Garcia, a stay-at-home mom, came out to the rally with her three children and her husband, who held a sign reading, “Hands off my daughter’s body.”
“I want my daughter to grow up with more rights, not less rights,” Garcia said. “We are going backwards, and I don’t want a bunch of men thousands of miles away making decisions about my daughter’s body.”
Garcia said that she also came out in support of immigrant rights, as her husband is an immigrant from Mexico.
“This country was built on immigration, and I am here to fight for my family,” she said.
Since Trump has taken office, he and his administration have implemented strident immigration enforcement measures, some of which are currently under challenge in the courts. Trump has called for the end birthright citizenship for certain children born in the United States.
Trump also issued an executive order that proclaimed the U.S. government will recognize only two sexes, female and male, and ended diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal agencies.
“Trans rights are human rights, LGBTQ+ rights are human rights,” said Elle Penner, a jazz singer in the local band Young and Lovely, and an adoption specialist for foster children. “They are just foundational components of the right to exist in America and that our government is attacking the rights of its own citizens is an atrocity. It is not legal. I am here as a white woman but a member of the queer community to stand by folks in my queer community who I identify with, and who I also maybe don’t identify with and feel they should absolutely have their identities affirmed and protected.”
At 90 years old, Cynthia Julian said she came to the rally because she felt she had to do something.
“I don’t know if I can make a difference, but I know that if I stay home I won’t,” Julian said, holding a sign reading, “So much wrong, so little cardboard.” “It’s what we fought for 50 years ago, and it’s going backwards, and it’s wrong.”
Vickie Fowler, a nurse practitioner and first-time protestor, echoed Julian’s concerns. “We have to rebuild from ground zero,” Fowler said.
Sanchez also reflected on the way the new administration has affected hard-won rights.
“Over the last 100 years, ever since the 1900s, you’ve had people fight for gay rights, you’ve had people fight for women’s rights, for people of color’s rights,” she said. “In the three months that Trump has been president, all of that’s just getting erased and we’re just backtracking all the way back to the early 1900s. Is that when America was really great? I beg to differ.”
Sanchez said she was fearful of her future as a young adult.
“I’m finally an adult able to make my own money and have my own health insurance and then it’s all getting taken away,” she said. “Now that I’m an adult, I can’t even think about buying my own home because the economy is shit and everything is going to be more expensive.”
The protest started around noon and continued throughout the day, with most of the crowd beginning to leave around 2 p.m. The rally was one of more than 1,400 taking place across the nation from Anchorage, Alaska to Washington, D.C.
This article appears in Taco Week 2025.
The crowd actually stretched from at least H to L street, and we also got positive support from most drivers as well. Some folks protested with signs on/in their cars, and drive around, many honked, waved, or gave a “power” fist, some even thanked us for being there! We had a handful of critics, but very little. One kid had a sign in his car that said “Stop people from being mean” and I thought that really summed it up nicely, proud to be part of this event, and this community!