by Ralph Chapoco, Alabama Reflector
April 5, 2025

More than 500 people descended on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol Saturday to protest the actions and policies of President Donald.

The “Hands Off” protest Saturday in Montgomery was one of six others planned in the state and more than 500 throughout the country in opposition to the administration’s wide-ranging attacks on federal agencies and departments, attempts to deport immigrants and efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for transgender Americans.

“Freedom is at stake, our constitution and our rights, the right to just exist,” said Annie Pearl Avery, a civil rights activist, in an interview following the event. “And we have a criminal and a crooked man in the White House. And his intention is to turn us back 150 years.”

Attendees sitting and standing on the steps of the Capitol held signs disparaging Trump and billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, which has thrown thousands of federal employees out of work. Others hoisted “Hands Off posters that pertained to Social Security, education and the economy in keeping with the theme of the event.

“Today, we are standing because we have issues of every kind,” said civil rights advocate Wanda Battle to the crowd. “Look around this place, we have every set of issues that can be imagined. Today, we are telling the Trump administration–hands off.”

Since taking office in January, Trump has issued several executive orders to dramatically reshape the operations of the federal agencies and alter public policy. Speakers focused on the administration’s attempted deportations of immigrants. Trump is attempting to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport immigrants from Venezuela to a prison in El Salvador, claiming they were a threat to public safety because they belonged to a gang.

“The story is that these were undocumented Venezuelan men who were part of a criminal gang,” said Lynn Hopkins, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Montgomery, in a speech to the crowd. “It didn’t take long to find out, and it surprised none of us, that they were not all gang members, they were not all undocumented, they were not all Venezuelan and, for God’s sake, they were not even all men.”

The crowd also criticized Trump’s efforts to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. In early March, the agency announced that it was reducing its workforce by about 1,300, going from 4,100 to almost 2,200 employees.

“We have a lot of rural communities who are impacted,” said Mary Gannon, who attended the protest in Montgomery while visiting from New Hampshire. “We have a lot of kids who are living in poverty, a lot of kids who are dealing with food insecurity. For me, right now, defunding the Department of Education is really a concern, but it is all connected.”

Trump and Musk also drew the ire of the crowd with their attempts to downsize the federal labor force in what they claim are attempts to streamline government. They expressed concerns about funding reductions to meet their basic needs, from Medicaid to Social Security.

Attendees also criticized attacks on marginalized populations.

“I have transgender kids and adults in my church who are terrified right now, who feel they are being made scapegoats, and are worried about getting the health care they need, and are looking to move because they find their government attacking them day after day with new ways to make them a target,” said Shane Isner, a senior minister at First Christian Church in Montgomery.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com.

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