MILWAUKEE – Protesters in downtown Milwaukee joined the nationwide “Hands Off!” demonstration on Saturday against what organizers described as “legislative actions threatening fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Milwaukee protest

Local perspective:

Thousands of people were expected to protest outside the Milwaukee Federal Building on Wisconsin Avenue, spotlighting issues that included “reproductive rights, voting access and democracy protection.”

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“Know that this isn’t the time to back down,” one protester said. “This is the time to be bold, this is the time to organize and build the better world that we all want to see.”

Protests across the country

Big picture view:

More than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were planned by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans and elections activists across the country. The protest sites included the National Mall in Washington, D.C., state capitols and other locations in all 50 states.

Protesters assailed the Trump administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut federal funding for health programs.

Activists have staged nationwide demonstrations against Trump or Musk multiple times since Trump returned to office. But the opposition movement has yet to produce a mass mobilization like the Women’s March in 2017, which brought thousands of women to Washington, D.C., after Trump’s first inauguration, or the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that erupted in multiple cities after George Floyd’s killing in 2020.

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White House responds

The other side:

Asked about the protests, the White House said in a statement that “President Trump’s position is clear: he will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.