Philly protesters promise to resist the new Trump administration
About 200 people at City Hall participated in the 50501 protest, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day.
Some 200 people gathered in front of City Hall at noon Wednesday as part of a plan organized through social media to hold 50 anti-Trump protests across 50 states in one day.
Dubbed the 50501 protests on Reddit and other social media platforms, the concept inspired organizers to make fliers and create events for their cities and state capitols. Philadelphia’s protest had no main organizers. The flier going around simply billed the event as an effort to “defend our democracy.”
At Philly’s demonstration — Pittsburgh and Harrisburg had protests of their own — Elon Musk, who is leading the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency, was the target of ire. Attendees described feeling inundated by a barrage of news stories listing yet another government agency DOGE was looking to gut. Concerns over Musk’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and his access to the U.S. Treasury’s payment system motivated people like Phyllis Koletta, 68, to make the trip from Somers Point, N.J.
“The fact that Elon Musk and his boy band got into the Treasury … I am just appalled that there are no checks and balances,” she said, adding “old white men” in Washington are “using the Constitution for toilet paper.”
Signs that read “Musk makes a terrible president” and “Stop the Trump Musk coup” echoed Koletta’s frustrations, as did chants of “hey, hey, ho, ho, Trump and Musk have got to go.”
Koletta and others balked at the notion the X owner and Tesla CEO, who is not an elected official, could wield so much power with such little oversight from elected officials. So protesters hoped they could offer some resistance of their own.
Still, the attendees were aware that their numbers paled in comparison to the protests of the first Trump term. They used their three hours of marching, which included stops at the Philly offices of U.S. Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, to share thoughts on how to rebuild the grassroots organizing infrastructure that hasn’t materialized to the degree it did during Trump’s first term. Protests in Philly so far have remained relatively small.
“Before you leave today, connect with someone you don’t know,” said community organizer Sam Rise, who’s been a supporting voice in Black Lives Matter, pro-Palestinian, and affordable housing demonstrations.
“You don’t have to be the same and it doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful, but you need to create a connection to someone that is going to last outside this action.”
The point, said Rise, was to keep the momentum going.
Lindsay Bondie, 37, who made the trip from Bucks County, hoped that people could be shaken out of what feels like a catatonic state by seeing the marches that took place in states like Colorado and Kansas.
“Maybe most people think this is the end of the world anyway, so why bother, I’ll just stay at home,” said Bondie, as her 13-year-old daughter marched in front of her. “But you know what? Everybody feels that way.”
In front of Fetterman’s office, people shared what drove them out to the protests — transgender rights, immigration protections, Palestinian autonomy — but also fears that their voices weren’t enough.
One woman, who described wanting to do more, turned bright red when someone suggested she could organize her own protest.
“I have no idea how to organize a mass march,” said the woman.
“Someone here does,” said Rise from the crowd.