About 300 protesters gather in Oklahoma City for Labor Day anti-Trump rally

At first glance, protester Donna Rowlan seemed out of place at the “Workers Over Billionaires” rally against the Trump administration at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City Labor Day.

She was wearing a bright red T-shirt that from afar looked to read; “TRUMP for PRESIDENT 2029.” It actually read, “TRUMP for Prison RESIDENT 2029.”

She chuckled about the confusion. “It really puts people off for a minute,” she said.

She was one of about 300 protesters who gathered outside at the state Capitol to hear speeches criticizing President Donald Trump and calling for solidarity. Hundreds of similar demonstrations took place across the country.

For Rowlan, the benefit of such rallies in Oklahoma is to the participants.

“I think they do us a lot of good,” the Oklahoma City resident said. “Because we feel like we’re not alone. … You know in Oklahoma you feel isolated and lonely. You can’t go up to somebody on the street and show them your shirt. They might cut off your head.”

Large crowds turned out at the rallies and marches in major cities including Boston, Chicago, Detroit and New York. The protests drew mostly modest crowds in smaller cities around the country, from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The “Workers Over Billionaires” protests were led by labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO, as well as dozens of local advocacy groups.

In a Sept. 1 statement, a White House spokesperson said that “no one has done more for working men and women than President Trump.”

Trump has “championed an agenda that always puts them first — from signing the largest middle-class tax cuts in history to securing nearly $10 trillion in new investments to create high-paying jobs across our country,” the spokesperson said.

The rally in Oklahoma City included a 30-minute march where protesters chanted, “The people united will never be divided.” Some carried the U.S. flag upside down, a symbol of extreme danger or distress.

Others carried handmade signs condemning Trump and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. One read; “Hitler had Gestapo … Trump has ICE.”

The largest sign at the rally stated Oklahoma has more billionaires than a lot of states ― at eight ― but is 50th in education.