Standing in the rain wearing an American flag scarf, 71-year-old Sally Tucker of Guilford chanted “This is what democracy sounds like” and “Musk and Trump have got to go” with protesters in front of the state Capitol as cars driving by honked in support.
It was one of nearly two dozen Hands Off! demonstrations organized in Connecticut on Saturday, joining more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states. The groups IndivisibleCT and 50501 hosted the Hands Off! rally in Hartford. State Capitol police estimated 2,500 to 3,000 people were in attendance.
“We are here because we are terrified about what is happening and how the complicit, quiet people who are going along and letting these ridiculous decisions being made are going to hurt all Americans,” Tucker said.
Tucker, a former teacher, had a sign that read “Americans First” with a list of her concerns underneath: the Constitution, social security, veterans and children.
Tucker said President Donald Trump and Elon Musk don’t seem to care.
“There's no empathy. There's no compassion. There's no heart or soul in their leadership. There is no leadership, because leaders unite people. They don't divide people,” Tucker said. “ For that reason, I stand here in the rain.”
Keep your Hands Off
Protesters called on Trump and Musk to keep their “hands off” various services, including social security, medicare/medicaid, diversity, equity and inclusion public education, LGBTQ+ rights, women’s health care and more.
Retired clergyman Thomas Carr of Windsor brought a sign that read, “Hands off the EPA (the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).”
Carr said he is “110% against” the Trump Administration taking apart well-established institutions, but he wanted to shed light on the EPA because he thinks “hardly anybody is really paying attention to that.”
“One of the reasons that's specific about the EPA is that so many people do not realize that they are absolutely taking the whole thing apart, and the EPA is what federally helps protect what we call the environment Earth,” Carr said. “Earth is our only home. [If] we don't have a healthy planet, we don't have anything.”
70-year-old Harvey Zar of Hampton has been to these kinds of protests before.
“This is the fourth one I've gone to, and each one gets bigger. That's what I'm seeing,” Zar said. “The people in the beginning were afraid of Trump, you know, and they should be afraid of Trump. But the thing is, it's time to stop being afraid and stand up.”
Power in the people
Connecticut leaders and lawmakers took to the steps of the Capitol building to show their support, including Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, State Sen. Matt Lesser and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, among many others.
U.S. Congressman John Larson, who recently went viral with his impassioned demand for transparency from DOGE leader Elon Musk over the future of Social Security, again raised his voice on the topic. Larson said Trump brought Musk on to cut trillions of federal funds.
“The only [agency] that has $2 trillion, $700 billion of your earned money that was put in there is Social Security,” Larson said. “That's what they're trying to privatize, and they need to be called out on it every day.”
The Social Security Administration announced it would lay off 7,000 employees to comply with President Trump’s executive order to reduce Federal staff. NPR reports Trump has said that Social Security "won't be touched" in his sweeping cuts, many of which face challenges in the courts.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who has joined several lawsuits challenging executive actions, said the power lies with the people.
“The Constitution gives us the power. It’s called checks and balances, and we are a check on this president,” Tong said.
That show of power, in the people that attended nationwide demonstrations on Saturday, means a great deal for Sally Tucker of Guilford.
“It's almost like a bad dream you're waiting to wake up from, but it's for real,” Tucker said. “We are in a crisis, and I think it's our responsibility, our moral responsibility as humans, to speak up, make our expectations and our desires known and keep doing it … until we see the changes that we all as Americans deserve.”
