Photo by Viola Gray
Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Thousands of people gathered throughout the Southland April 5 as part of a nationwide series of “Hands Off!” demonstrations in opposition to the Trump administration’s steep tariffs, program cuts and mass layoffs of federal workers.
In downtown Los Angeles, demonstrators carried a 20-foot-tall balloon of the image of President Donald Trump wearing a diaper and a 15-foot-tall helium-filled balloon representing Trump wearing a Russian military uniform during a march along a nearly milelong stretch of sidewalks and streets, that began with a rally at Pershing Square.
Thousands of people filled Pershing Square as Alan Vargas of California Young Democrats told the crowd “When we come together, the rich sweat,” adding “Be loud. Be noisy. Be disruptive.”
Among the signs carried by demonstrators: “Eggs are too expensive. Eat the rich,” “It’s not left vs right. It’s the oligarchy vs all of us,” and “Trump is Tarifying.”
Los Angeles County Republican Party Chairman Roxanne Hoge said such demonstrations will have no effect on the Trump administration.
“Radical leftists are protesting President Donald Trump with marches and a parade balloon?” she told City News Service. “Their boring, predictable tantrums are now part of the L.A. landscape, much like the dilapidated RVs and dangerous encampments that their policies result in.
“We are interested in good governance and public safety, and wish our Democrat friends would join us in advocating for both.”
Among the scheduled at the City Hall rally were actress Jodie Sweetin and comedian Francesa Fiorentini.
“We’re barely two months into Trump’s chaos and the country is reeling from his reckless firing of millions of workers, the breaking up of tens of thousands of families and plans to gut funding to our health care and Social Security,” organizer Emily Williams said.
“It doesn’t matter what your political party is, nearly everyone is being harmed by these punishing decisions and we’re here to oppose the destruction of these programs that millions of Americans rely on every day.”
At least 100 protests and marches were planned throughout the region, including events in Glendale, Culver City, Pasadena, Los Feliz, Torrance, Long Beach, Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Riverside and Santa Ana. Organizations represented included ACLU, 50501 SoCal, Greenpeace, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Working Families Power, according to the Hands Off! website.
Trump has yet to comment on what organizers called a “mass mobilization day,” but the White House rescheduled one of its annual spring garden tour dates due to the large anti-Trump demonstration expected to take place near 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
“Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to USA Today. “President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers across the country who overwhelmingly re-elected him.”
The downtown protest were expected to cause traffic disruptions in the area, including delays to the DASH bus service. The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated they had no special plans to deal with the protests.
