Thousands gather in Sioux Falls to protest Trump's actions
Attendees carry signs during a protest against President Donald Trump on April 5, 2025, in Sioux Falls. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
SIOUX FALLS — A crowd estimated in the thousands protested Saturday in downtown Sioux Falls as part of a nationwide movement to resist President Donald Trump's agenda, with attendees focusing on the protection of things such as abortion rights, Social Security and free trade.
'My angst is really about the millions of people who are hurting and will hurt because of his policies,' said Roni Wegner, with Indivisible 605, which helped organize the protest. 'I don't see how it's going to help. There is no long-term plan.'
For more about the impact of federal firings, funding freezes, spending cuts and grant cancellations, see Searchlight's DOGE in SD page.
Another attendee, Reed Boysen, said, 'This is not a left or right moment, this is a right or wrong moment.'
There were also protests in Pierre and Rapid City. The South Dakota chapter of the national 50501 Movement (50 protests, 50 states, one movement) was an organizer, saying that the protests were staged to 'resist executive overreach, defend democracy, and oppose the harmful policies of Project 2025.' Conservative political groups wrote and published the Project 2025 plan as a roadmap to remake the federal government during Trump's presidency.
The 50501 movement called on South Dakotans to 'remove corrupt politicians from office,' 'reverse the damage inflicted' and 'reclaim our rights, our government and our future.'
Since Trump took office, he has moved rapidly with billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency to fire hundreds of thousands of federal workers, cut or freeze billions in federal government spending, eliminate the federal Department of Education and take other actions that drew protesters into the streets Saturday.
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rep. Erik Muckey, D-Sioux Falls, speaks during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Etta McKinley sings during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, listens during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Craig Brown speaks during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, speaks during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Rally attendees carry signs during a protest in Sioux Falls on Apr. 5, 2025. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israeli navy attacks rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Israeli navy attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday, likely damaging facilities that are key to aid shipments to the hungry, war-wracked nation. The Israeli military said navy missile ships conducted the strikes, the first time its forces have been involved in attacks against the Houthi rebels. Tuesday's attack comes as the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah satellite news channel. They said the attack targeted docks there, without elaborating. Late Monday, Israel issued online warnings to Yemenis to evacuate from Ras Isa, Hodeida and al-Salif ports over the Houthis' alleged use of seaports for attacks. 'The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities,' the Israeli military said in a statement Tuesday. Hodeida also is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis since the war began when the Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014. The Houthis have been launching persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's offensive in Gaza. From November 2023 until January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. President Donald Trump paused those attacks just before his trip to the Mideast, saying the rebels had 'capitulated' to American demands. Early Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on the social platform X that U.S. Navy ships had traveled through the Red Sea and its Bab el-Mandeb Strait 'multiple times in recent days' without facing Houthi attacks. 'These transits occurred without challenge and demonstrate the success of both Operation ROUGH RIDER and the President's Peace Through Strength agenda,' Hegseth wrote ahead of facing Congress for the first time since sharing sensitive military details of America's military campaign against the Houthis in a Signal chat. It's unclear how the Houthis will respond now that an attack has come from the sea, rather than the air, from the Israelis. Meanwhile, a wider, decadelong war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country's exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, remains in a stalemate.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's protest suppression tactic backfires as 'No Kings' events mushroom after L.A. confrontations
Rachel Maddow reports on the planning of a massive protest event called "No Kings" scheduled for Saturday, June 14th, overshadowing Donald Trump's theatrical military parade, and marking a new peak in anti-Trump activism.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Minnesota Muslim community concerned about President Trump's travel ban
The Brief President Donald Trump's new travel ban went into effect on Monday. The ban targets mainly African and Middle Eastern countries, amid the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement. Some in Minnesota's Muslim community are already raising the alarm about the ban. ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - President Donald Trump's new travel ban went into effect on Monday. CAIR Minnesota says it will offer "Know Your Rights" presentations to members of the local Somali Muslim community who have questions about the ban. What we know For Minnesota's Muslim community and its allies, President Trump's new travel ban is a cause for concern. "What we know is that this is not about security. It's a continuation of the anti-Muslim and particularly the anti-African ban," said Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Minnesota. The backstory The executive order which went into effect on Monday affects citizens from a dozen countries, including Somalia, and adds tighter restrictions on travelers from seven other countries. CAIR says Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States, and it has already heard from members of the Somali community worried about the new regulations. "The ban is carefully crafted to hide its true and evident intent, which is to discriminate based on religion, race, and nationality," said Munira Mohamed, policy associate for the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. During the presidential election, exit polling shows more than half of Muslim voters voted for third party candidate Jill Stein, 21& voted for Trump, while 20% voted for Kamala Harris. CAIR says many Muslims don't regret their decisions in the voting booth because of the Biden administration's stance on Gaza."Banning and bombing are not the same thing. We knew that Muslims in America may suffer more because of this administration. We understood that that was a risk we were willing to take to save the lives of children in Gaza and to end the war," said Hussein. What they're saying CAIR is asking community members, elected officials and neighbors to condemn the travel ban and support the No Ban Act, which would keep future presidents from enacting similar restrictions. "This ban cannot stand. It does not protect our neighbors. In fact, it creates a more racist and non-inclusive society," said Hussein.
