Mike Moen, Minnesota News Connection, a bureau of Public News Service.
From coast to coast, President’s Day was used to sound the alarm over actions by the Trump administration.
The 50501 Movement is a grassroots effort where organizers connect online to schedule peaceful protests in all states. Monday marked the second nationwide group of rallies since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Yesterday, In Southern California, hundreds of demonstrators rallied outside the Long Beach city hall. In Minnesota, protesters braved subzero temperatures to express worry about the loss of democratic norms.
Minnesota protesters want action
Rob Gallagher lives in Woodbury, Minnesota. He attended the St. Paul event. He said he’s convinced democracy is being undermined as Trump’s staff aggressively cuts agency budgets and workers in the face of court challenges.
“It affects everybody, the great many,” said Gallagher, “and for what? You know, it’s incompetently done, it’s done without checks and balances on appropriations that have already been made, and without checks on conflicts of interest. And so, it’s wrong in every dimension.”
Those conflicts of interest involve claims about Trump adviser Elon Musk. The billionaire is leading the purge of US agencies, violating ethics rules because critics say his companies hold government contracts.
Other protesters say Congress isn’t doing enough to intervene.
The 50501 Movement says it isn’t tied to any political party and calls for Trump to be impeached and for Musk to be investigated.
Gallagher hopes to see other forms of peaceful protest in both blue and red states.
“Consumers’ purchasing drives the economy,” said Gallagher, “and if we could leverage this sort of group activity into a ‘no buy day’ – or, you know, ‘no purchases over a weekend’ – or to other kinds of group activity, that would move the needle.”
Gallagher, who is retired, said he worked many years in business and was trained to reduce wasteful spending. He’s convinced any entity can be made more efficient but thinks what’s happening in Washington, D.C., isn’t the way to do it.
Support for this reporting was provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York.
