Activists across metro Detroit and around the country are mobilizing today to protest President Donald Trump’s policies.
Dubbed Hands Off Day, the groups accuse Trump and Elon Musk of “taking everything they can get their hands on — our health care, our data, our jobs, our services.”
Local protests are scheduled across the state, including Lansing, Detroit, Novi, Troy and Ferndale. Other rallies are planned on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and in Boston, Independence, Missouri and Berkeley, California.
Nationwide, more than 500,000 people have RSVP’d to attend one of 1,000 rallies, marches or protests organized by grassroots groups. The groups include activists for reproductive rights, immigrant rights, government workers and foreign policy issues like the Gaza War and support for Ukraine.
On a rainy Saturday in Detroit, protesters boarded the QLINE as they made their way to the Detroit Institute of Arts.
For Kathy Cassar, it was a family affair, as she stepped off the train and walked with her sister and brother-in-law to the DIA, where hundreds were already pouring to the front of the museum with signs in tow, as cars honked.
“Congress do your job,” one sign read.
Another: “Hands off free speech.”
“Elon Musk has got to go, hey, hey, ho, ho,” protesters chanted.
The 65-year-old drove more than an hour from Hartland to Detroit to express her outrage over the Trump administration, which she described as, “reprehensible.”
“I have never been so afraid for my country in my entire lifetime. What is happening now is terrifying,” she said.
The firing of federal workers and changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would affect everyone, she said.
More: Live updates: Anti-Trump protesters set to gather at hundreds of locations nationwide
“We need federal workers. These are Americans. These are our neighbors,” Cassar, who identifies as an independent but voted for Kamala Harris last November, said.
She held a sign, covered in plastic so it wouldn’t get wet in the rain, that read: “Republican Congress Grow A Spine Or Resign.”
Jessica Sato, 36, of Detroit, was in Washington, D.C., and decided to come to the protest on the National Mall with friends.
“To be honest, I’ve had the privilege of not being directly affected by a lot of policy changes (in) really any administration. But I care about people, and I think that’s what Americans need to do. We need to care about our fellow Americans, and I’m here to stand up for the rights of everyone who can’t stand up for themselves, or just to show support and make it clear that our rights are everyone’s rights,” Sato said.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Contact John Wisely: [email protected]. On X: @jwisely
