Crowds gathered in cities across the nation to protest against the Trump Administration
Courtesy of Erin Tountas
Demonstrators who filled the streets of Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday were a part of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protests against the Trump Administration and their policies.
“Hands Off!” organizers said more than 1,200 demonstrations were executed across all 50 states. In addition to Los Angeles, the state of California pulled together protests in neighboring cities including Claremont, Huntington Beach, Thousand Oaks, Los Feliz and Santa Clarita.
Respective locals and organizers banded together to express their frustrations with the current political administration, specifically to call out Trump and Elon Musk, the South African born billionaire business tycoon behind Tesla and SpaceX.
Most recently, Musk has acquired the title of Senior Advisor to President Trump and is heavily involved in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was founded on January 20, 2025, the day that Trump was inaugurated for his second presidential term.
Musk has been a critical figure in many of the widely despised new policies of the Trump Administration. His involvement in politics has led to the protests against his own companies, specifically Tesla. #TeslaTakedown is an organization that began protesting against Tesla and Musk earlier this year. Their protests largely consists of pickets in front of Tesla showrooms, and according to their website, they “oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property.”
Other Musk and Tesla protests have been more physical. Last month, a California Tesla dealership and several cars on site were found vandalized with swastikas spray-painted on them. Less than a day later, more Teslas were set on fire with Molotov cocktails at a Tesla Collision Center in Las Vegas. The word “RESIST” was also found spray painted on the building’s door.
Los Angeles “Hands Off!” protestors met at 4 p.m. in Pershing Square on Saturday, holding onto balloons and handmade signs with statements like “Hands off Democracy” and “Dump Trump, Fire Musk” written in bright and bold colors. Some protestors also wore Palestinian Keffiyeh scarves or held Ukrainian flags. As the demonstration moved through downtown, protesters chants and cheers were met with car horns from nearby drivers both supportive and unsupportive of the movement.
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Since President Trump took office in January, his administration has received consistent backlash about the new policies and global concerns like immigration raids, high tariffs, human rights, cuts to the Department of Education and cuts to the healthcare system, including Medicaid.
Though other anti-Trump protests have taken place since Trump returned to the White House, including rallies before his inauguration took place in January, Saturday’s national movement proves to be the largest demonstration of Trump’s second term so far.