from Unicorn Riot
Philadelphia, PA — After a brutal stock market correction and new anti-trade tariff policies, more than 120,000 layoffs of federal workers, dozens of executive orders, and hundreds of immigrant arrests led by ICE, many Americans are reeling from political and financial upheaval caused by the Trump administration. Around 150 liberal groups, including unions, climate and advocacy groups like MoveOn, called for a wide set of #HandsOff rallies around the country on Saturday, April 5. The Philadelphia rally, one of several in the region, gathered at City Hall in Center City and marched down Market Street to the lawn near the National Constitution Center and Independence Hall for a series of speeches from politicians and people who’ve worked at institutions under threat like the Environmental Protection Agency and US Postal Service.
Supporters tallied turnout from at least 1200 rallies and estimated attendance at more than 3 million, or nearly 1% of the entire US population. (An interactive map with media from 1150 locations is available.) Many protests were in out-of-the-way, conservative-leaning locales like Bolivia, North Carolina, Nanuet, New York, and Tehachapi, California (all in counties that went 55% to 60% for Trump in November 2024).
While the crowds in many locations leaned towards an older demographic, it was a strikingly large mobilization and the largest one since Donald Trump was inaugurated in January; it’s the clearest indicator yet that the Baby Boomer generation hasn’t checked out of political activity in retirement, especially as the systems of the Social Security Administration threaten to unravel. The turnout at the Philly event was both older and more white than the city’s demographics.
