06-04-2025
Thousands attend 'Hands Off!' rally in Civic Plaza to speak out against actions of Trump administration
Apr. 5—Their reasons were many: mass layoffs, judicial overreach, immigration crackdowns, foreign wars — all of the above and then some. And they flooded Civic Plaza by the thousands on Saturday to speak loudly and be heard.
The "Hands Off!" rally in Downtown Albuquerque was one of more than 1,000 held across the country in a mass mobilization "to demand a stop to the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country," organizers said. Similar rallies took place at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe and in Las Cruces.
The main targets: President Donald Trump and the world's richest man, Elon Musk. And everyone was taking shots: Mayor Tim Keller, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and legendary labor and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, to name a few.
A bitter breeze and cloudy skies didn't diminish the turnout made up of people of all ages who carried homemade signs with such messages as "IKEA has better cabinets," "I have ebooks with more spine than the GOP" and "Make America Think Again." Degrading illustrations of Musk and Trump abounded, some showing Trump as a puppet and Musk as his puppeteer.
"I woke up this morning thinking, 'Man, it's going to be cloudy, it's going to be cold, it's going to be rainy, I might be the only one who shows up,'" local podcaster and emcee Robert Luke told the crowd. "And, now, when I look out, there are thousands of you. ... In this moment, it's not about left or right, it's about right or wrong."
Keller said Trump and Musk were trying to "bully our city" and threatening to take away more than $200 million in federal funding. He added, "It's literally food off our table, children out of our day care systems."
"It will not stop. This is just the beginning. So we know what we're going to do. We are going to defend Albuquerque. We're gonna legislate. We're gonna litigate it. We're gonna agitate, just like we're doing here today," Keller told the crowd to raucous cheers.
Huerta, at 95, raised her voice and got the crowd fired up with chants of "boycott, boycott, boycott." She said of Musk and Trump, "If you don't like us, we don't like you, we're not going to give you our dollars. We know that their hearts and their souls are in their wallets, so we're gonna give them a little bit of pain."
'Mad as hell'
For Sarah Locknar, a Vermont native who recently moved to Albuquerque after a brief stint in Florida, it was her first protest. She said anger got her out of the house Saturday.
"For me, democracy is number one," Locknar said. "Without that, we have nothing else ... and then all the other things that are going on, the economy shift, everyone getting fired, Congress not doing (expletive)."
She added, with a laugh, "I'm glad to be back in a blue state."
Libbie Jo Snyder, flutist and singer from Santa Fe, put it plainly: "I'm mad as hell." She said the recent Supreme Court win for Democrats in Wisconsin showed she's not the only one who's "pissed."
"We have to keep the momentum up. There has to be power on our side, because Trump and his cronies are determined to take over the country," Snyder said. "Making money and spreading these ridiculous fabrications about what's real and what's not real."
Tony Johnson, a veteran, was joined by Willa Brady and Chloe Cheatem, a federal worker. He said, "We all got something that we need to be fighting for."
"No matter what we think or where we came from, we need to all unite on this one accord. That's what's going to bring democracy back," Johnson said. "Our country is hurting right now, it's shedding tears."
Cheatem said she worries all the time and for that reason, "It's very important to be out here." Brady chimed in, "It does your heart good."
"Every single day I go to work and I don't know what kind of threat I'm going to walk into," Cheatem said. "I thought I was gonna retire from the federal government. I planned on spending the next 30 years there, and I still do, they're going to have to pull me out kicking and screaming."
Cheatem said many coworkers share the same concerns, no matter who they voted for. She added, "This has been awful. And you feel so helpless."
Abbi Weisberg, who came with her sister, mother and Winter, their collie mix wrapped in a cloth "impeach trump" sign, said being together with like minds helped buoy her spirits.
"It's scary when you get stuck in your own head, everything you're seeing online is so doomsday, and you don't really see the light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "But this makes me feel better, knowing that people are coming out, and they want to see a change."
