‘Hands off our Democracy' rallies draw thousands across Montana
Protestors gather for the "Hands Off" rally on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Montana State Capitol. (Jordan Hansen/Daily Montanan)
The sound of horns bouncing off the buildings in downtown Billings could be heard blocks away.
For two hours, the horns' drone, coupled with the sounds of cheering, protest songs and speakers filled the area around the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn in what one television station called the largest crowd ever assembled there.
A similar scene played out Saturday on the Missoula County Courthouse lawn, and organizers of the local events said that 19 demonstrations throughout the Treasure State were taking place simultaneously.
In Billings, residents from Yellowstone and surrounding counties held signs and lined all sides of the North 27th Street corridor for several blocks as they participated in the 'Hands off our Democracy' rally.
They protested the President Donald Trump administration, tariffs, and Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as did rally-goers throughout the state and country, and thousands at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Rev. Angie Dornisch, the pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Billings, spoke about the similarities of the political climate and the Easter season as protestors 'high-fived' cars that slowed to give encouragement or show solidarity.
Some waved flags from the windows.
'The followers of Jesus must care for the foreigners and immigrants because Jesus was a foreigner in a different land,' Dornisch said. 'Even in our tombs of despair and destruction, I have a message: Hope and love is alive. Darkness can be overwhelming, but it will not win. Resurrection is coming.'
Other mental health advocates urged people to find strength in each other, and to attend to personal mental health, especially when the news can be upsetting or confusing.
Union members said that the American promise was under attack, and urged solidarity and resistance.
'The American promise is if you work hard and play by the rules, you can live a decent life — we have to make that promise work,' said AFL-CIO member Bob Struckman. 'Trump and his minions are breaking that promise, and we're keeping it with the tools that we have in our democracy.'
Many of the speakers said that residents must continue to gather to support democracy, object to policies they don't like, use the First Amendment to speak out, as well as use the power of the ballot.
'We live in the richest nation on earth, at the richest time in our history, so why are we so broke?' Struckman said.
Lance Edward, the president of the Billings Education Association, which represents 1,200 teachers in the Billings Public Schools, is an English teacher and a football coach.
'The great strength in our nation is our diversity. I am not sure we can say that word anymore,' he said. 'So I will yell it.'
Donna Veraldi of the Billings chapter of the League of Women Voters said their organization is concerned about the efforts to change the access to the ballot.
'When we take rights away from others, we lose those same rights for ourselves,' she said. 'If ever there were a time to fight, it is now. Knowing how to fight does not mean we know how to win. Knowing how to fight is about knowing how to lose and still fighting.'
Kris Glenn of the Yellowstone Valley Citizens Council used a historical example from the Billings area to rally the crowd.
She spoke of when Billings, home to three large oil refineries, had among the worst air quality in the nation, until citizens stepped up to demand a change.
'Real change didn't come from the top down, it came from the bottom up. That's us, today,' she said.
She said she was concerned that a $1 million grant to Billings to plant more trees to help reduce climate change was at risk for being cut by the Trump administration.
'Hands off our communities, and hands off our future. Our elected leaders work for us, but only if we speak up,' Glenn said.
Gerald Kessler, a retired government teacher at Billings Senior High, said that his thoughts were with one person who wasn't at the rally, his father.
'Eighty years ago, he was a medic in the U.S. Army. He was neither a sucker or a loser. He saw thousands of dead men. He would be appalled by what's happening today because he fought against fascism,' he said.
Elizabeth Klarich, one of the co-leaders of Yellowstone Indivisible which organized the event, as well as a large rally last month in Billings, said that crowd represented a diverse background of every living generation, and an array of concerns.
'It's not right or left here, but it's right versus wrong, and we're here to stand up,' she said.
In Missoula, the drumming at the demonstration reverberated at least a block and a half away from the Missoula County Courthouse, where by a couple of estimates, roughly 3,000 people gathered to protest Trump's agenda — and point to different political priorities.
Mark Sanz of Missoula held a sign that said 'Nobody Voted For Social INSecurity.'
He said the idea for the sign came from a friend who contributed to the program all her life and fears it's now in jeopardy.
'They'll start decreasing Society Security in the name of tax cuts for the rich,' Sanz said. 'Same with Medicaid. That's what's coming.'
Dogs wore sandwich boards that said, 'Dogs Against DOGE,' and people blew bubbles that floated into the sky, and they chanted, 'Good trouble,' and 'Hands off.'
The crowd also chanted for Sen. Bernie Sanders. The independent from Vermont and former Democratic presidential candidate has been on a 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour, and the crowd chanted, 'Bernie, Bernie, Bernie' at the news he will be in Missoula on April 16.
The rally kicked off with the crowd singing, 'This Land Is Your Land,' and emcee Jim Sayer asked people to fist bump each other as a reminder of connection.
'We all are together in this. We all have to look out for each other,' Sayer said.
The Montana Legislature is in session in Helena, and some lawmakers are anticipating the possible need for a special session to address potential federal cuts that affect the state budget — including those who welcome a leaner budget.
Already, Montana has seen effects of the federal cuts, from the announcement this week that Humanities Montana had lost its entire federal grant that supports programs in all 56 counties to earlier cuts of U.S. Forest Service workers.
On the courthouse lawn, one sign decorated with pine trees read, 'Resistance Ranger! Protect Our Public Lands!!!' Another read, 'Save America! Deport Musk,' and one said, 'IKEA assembles better cabinets.'
The gathering at the courthouse was the largest at least in recent years, organized by Missoula Resists, Indivisible Missoula, and Stand Up, Fight Back. Speakers talked about the importance of Indigenous rights, health care, the planet, arts and reproductive rights.
'We are not willing to be overwhelmed or torn apart,' said Rose, with Missoula Resists (Rose declined to share her last name through an organizer). 'I think we might be more (unwilling) now.'
Meredith Printz, with Indivisible Missoula, said the group is new, and it believes the Congressional delegation is failing to represent Montanans on Social Security, education, and the dismantling of government agencies by Musk.
As the demonstrators cheered for change and booed Trump and Musk, drivers honked as they rolled past the courthouse, and people in the crowd snapped pictures of each other and commented on the turnout.
'What an amazing day,' said one woman at the tail end of the gathering.
When Sayer said Trump had taken office just 76 days ago, the crowd booed, and Sayer said he had to remind them anyway.
He likened Trump's approach in office to a 'demolition derby,' and he told people it is a dark time in America, but it's also springtime, and he read a quote from Alice Walker.
'As long as the earth can make a spring every year, I can,' Sayer said.
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