Locals Join Millions Nationwide To Protest Trump, Musk, DOGE

By TERESA WINCHESTER
ONEONTA/ALBANY

On Saturday, April 5 people from across the nation participated in some 1,400 “Hands Off!” protests in all 50 states. In upstate New York, participants braved rainy, chilly and windy conditions to raise their voices in peaceful protest.

The rallies were mounted by Indivisible, MoveOn, Third Act and other national pro-democracy groups. At issue were multiple objections as to how President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Trump’s head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, are conducting the affairs of the nation. According to the BBC, April 5 represented “the largest one-day, nationwide display of public resistance.” Leigh Bailey of Indivisible Albany reported that the national chapter of Indivisible estimates 5.5 million protesters participated in the “Hands Off!” initiative.

Protesters’ concerns included what they believe are imminent threats to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, and the Veterans Administration, as well as to job losses due to cuts in the agencies that support these long-standing social programs. Possible violations of civil rights regarding immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community were called into question, and many posters also demanded environmental protections. Support for continued free and fair elections, cancer research, women’s reproductive rights, NATO, and consumer protections were also on the table. Some protest signs called for respect for the rule of law and court decisions. Schools and libraries were the subject of other signs. In general, the signs displayed appeared to be handmade, some featuring very direct messages, such as “Hands Off Social Security,” while others were pithier: “Elect a clown, you get a circus.”

In our area, “Hands Off!” rallies were held in Oneonta, Norwich, Delhi and other nearby venues. The Oneonta event was organized by Indivisible groups from Cooperstown/Oneonta, Butternut Valley, Cherry Valley and Schoharie County, as well as by Otsego Residents for Democracy. Hundreds of people gathered on both sides of Main Street at Muller Plaza. The mood of the gathering seemed positive, even joyful, according to participant comments.

Speakers at Muller Plaza included Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek, Caitlin Ogden, chair of the Otsego County Democratic Committee, Donna Latella of Cherry Valley Indivisible, Oneonta Councilman Don Mathisen, Oneonta Democratic Club member Valerie Cole, and Leslie Berliant of Middlefield, a member of the Otsego County Democratic Committee.

Drnek called the protest “a good day for democracy,” hailing the “patriotic spirit of the crowd, the songs of freedom, and the impressive numbers who braved the icy rain.”

Ogden spoke about local elections as a tangible way to fight for the future of democracy and the Democratic Party.

“You can do this by volunteering, donating and possibly running for office. This is an important step in the broader scheme of things. When we have elections in years to come, we need to have built a base to demonstrate that Democrats can win,” Ogden said.

Leslie Berliant spoke emotionally and at length, affirming, “We are here, as Cory Booker talked about in his epic 25-hour-plus filibuster in the Senate earlier this week, showing our love for America, even as our country breaks our hearts.

“We are here showing our love for the America we envision but have yet to realize, where everyone has a place with the opportunity and support to live with dignity, freedom, and to pursue happiness,” continued Berliant. “An America that is generous, that is kind, that leads by lifting up and bringing together. We are here to stand for that America, even as we have never experienced it, and seems further away than ever.”

Berliant concluded by thanking the protesters “for your inspiration, your strength…for channeling fear, rage and sadness at what is happening in our country right now into action.”

Andrea Hull of Morris was one of the hundreds present at the Oneonta rally.

“It seemed to me at least 450 people were on the plaza and both sides of Main Street past the shops, a couple of hundred feet in either direction. There was a cacophony of honking. Young people, children, and old people with homemade signs addressing issues of concern to them, and there were many of those issues. Chanting, cheering, shouting, laughing, singing ‘God Bless America’ and ‘America the Beautiful,’ many with tears in their eyes. Also, over 40 upstate communities and one Canadian called out their presence at the rally,” she wrote in an e-mail communication after the rally.

CooperstownOneonta Indivisible leader Virginia Kennedy summed up the morning’s protest, stating, “We were standing up for public services that our hard work and taxes pay for while Donald Trump was golfing in Florida. We were standing up for veterans’ services while Donald Trump couldn’t be bothered to honor the four service men killed in Lithuania, eating fancy food with other billionaires at a $1 million per plate fundraiser. We were rallying for our fellow citizens losing their retirement money because of his ridiculous tariffs…America is not a corporation to profit the rich. America is our democracy, and we’ll continue to fight hard for its survival for all the people, not just the extremely wealthy.”

Seventy miles east, at Albany’s West Capitol Park, approximately 20 speakers addressed a crowd of 6,000 over the course of the rally. Among them were Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, Congressman Paul Tonko, Assemblyman John McDonald, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Mark Emanatian of the Capital District Labor Federation, and state Senator Patricia Fahy.

Carl Grimes, with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, spoke about the harm that cuts are doing to veterans of all ages.

Assemblyman McDonald urged upstate New Yorkers to challenge the seven members of the Republican majority in Congress for “not doing their jobs.”

“Call friends and family members. Tell them to start speaking up, not only for New York State citizens but for citizens of the United States of America,” he said.

Dr. Mary Panzetta, who worked at the Samuel Stratton Veterans Administration Center for 15 years before conducting a private practice in psychology for the last 16 years, commented on Trump’s mental stability.

“In 31 years, I have never encountered anyone with a personality disorder as severe as Donald Trump’s. He shouldn’t be president. He should be studied,” she said.

It was Delgado’s impassioned, enlivened address that most moved the gathering. Speaking for 12 minutes, he referred often to love, compassion, truth, goodness and morality.

“I stand before you today, emboldened. Remember that democracy is a moral endeavor. It is a political system grounded in a moral idea, an idea rooted in a higher power. It is a political system that determines that might does not make right. Right makes right. Love makes right. Truth makes right. Not status, not class, not wealth, not power, but human dignity makes right,” he declared.
He went on to decry the ills of economic inequality.

“The levels of economic inequality are not sustainable here and it’s been going on for far too damn long. As economic equality grows and wealth gets concentrated in the hands of a few, then power can be converted into political power. Then, economic power can capture the very essence of our democracy and turn our democracy against the will of the people. And this is where we are right now,” he affirmed.

Delgado concluded by urging those present to follow the example of former Congressman John Lewis: “Make good trouble.”

“We need moral leadership now more than ever,” he said as he urged protesters to tap into their power every single day from now until 2026.

“We’ll take the House back,” Delgado asserted.

“Anthony Delgado gave a forceful speech with the demand for moral leadership and inspired compassion and empathy. All the speakers represented a cross section of the community. Working people, veterans, and elected officials who represent their constituents and hear their concerns. It felt great to be part of a bigger, national movement to oppose injustice,” said Bill Hovard of Otego regarding the Albany protest.

“I was so impressed that so many people turned out for the Albany rally in the freezing rain and stayed until the end. Clearly, people are willing to organize and endure harsh conditions to have their voices heard. I was impressed that Anthony Delgado showed up to support the people. I’m just wondering where [New York Governor] Kathy Hochul was,” said Lynne Ohl of Butternuts.

“It was uplifting to be at the Albany Hands Off! rally. These are dark times in the politics of our country. The chaos of layoffs and the destruction of our government agencies are terrifying. The attacks on freedom of speech and destruction of the right to due process under the law should appall all Americans,” said Sallye Sadlocha of Gilbertsville.