06-04-2025
'Hands Off!': Hundreds gather in Tupelo to protest Trump, Musk cuts
TUPELO — Hundreds gathered Saturday afternoon to protest against the actions of the Trump Administration, brandishing signs admonishing cuts to social benefits and demanding action on the part of state leaders.
Indivisible Northeast Mississippi held a protest at U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly's office in downtown Tupelo Saturday as part of the national The Hands Off! mass mobilization event. The organization reported that more than 250 people attended the event.
'Now is the time that ordinary citizens must stand up and say, 'hands off,'" Teresa Roberts, leader of Indivisible NEMS Hands Off! mass mobilization, said in a press release. 'It is critical to show 'social proof' to others that we are fighting the hostile takeover of our government by billionaires."
The goal of Saturday's protest, Roberts said, is to be seen.
'This helps motivate onlookers to pay attention and to join in," she said. "Given the speed of the gutting and plundering of our government by those utterly blind to the needs and wants of everyday Americans, this kind of urgent public saying is that 90% of life is showing up. We will show up, speak out and will raise our voices.'
The protest comes in response to President Donald Trump's and billionaire advisor Elon Musk's, through the actions of his Department of Government Efficiency, and the restructuring of the federal government in the name curbing what the Trump Administration has deemed as wasteful spending. Over the past few weeks, hundreds of governmental employees have been furloughed or fired and funding cut to multiple programs, including the United States Agency for International Development, Medicaid, the Department of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration.
Residents of the region and visitors from far away as Texas joined the local organization's push to pressure area legislators to resist changes brought by DOGE.
'They are dismantling our democracy at a frightening pace,' Derek Cook of Manatee, Mississippi, said. Watching the cuts unfold, he said he didn't know what to do. He said the goal of the protest was to push legislators to put governmental 'guard rails' back on the administration.
Tupelo resident Leah Headings has been a part of Indivisible since the first Trump Administration when the local chapter was formed. She said there were many reasons she and others were standing outside of Kelly's office. However, she noted how many aspects of her life were changed or subject to change with plans from DOGE, including that she is on Social Security, her father is a veteran who relies on his benefits to survive, and that many of the children she works with as a therapist would not be able to receive treatment without Medicaid coverage.
Landon Huey of Denton, Texas, said he was in Tupelo for business and to visit family when he saw the protest and wanted to join. He noted that a lack of heavy media presence was concerning. He called the federal cuts a 'miscarriage' of democracy.
Kelly was not in his office as of Saturday with Congress currently in session in Washington D.C.
