Thousands of protesters gathered and marched in downtown San José in a nationwide movement to criticize President Donald Jr. Trump’s administration actions as president.
The protesters gathered on Saturday at noon at St. James Park, a little over half a mile away from the San José State downtown campus.
The protesters marched in a circle from the park and back after passing San José City Hall.
Ariel Ranker, an organizer for #50501, said her group counted that around 5,000 protesters came to the protest.
“It's amazing to see this much solidarity from people in every single state,” Ranker said. “Even (in) red states, even (in) swing states, people are coming out to voice their opinions.”
#50501, which stands for 50 protests in 50 states for one movement, is a national grassroots movement and is a decentralized rapid response to “anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration” and his allies, according to its website.
The movement received traction in the community r/50501 on Reddit and spread rapidly through social media, according to the same website.
Ranker said she is worried about abortion rights and people being arrested without due process, but her biggest concern is that the government is violating people’s Constitutional rights.
“This is America and this is a country where everyone is supposed to be welcome, and we do not want our citizens living in fear because nobody deserves that,” she said. “I want our country back -honestly to at least where it was before- and so that we can start working towards a better future.”
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg for District 4 in Santa Clara County said it is always energizing to be part of something bigger than the community in San José and Santa Clara County.
“This is people coming together with so many different priorities but those priorities are united by a belief that our country needs to run by the rule of law, needs to take responsibility for the people that are least able to care for themselves and needs to operate in a way that is free of corruption and bias,” Ellenburg said.
Romaine Charite, a third-year philosophy student at San José State who uses they/she pronouns, said the Trump administration has made multiple attacks on the education system and student rights.
Charite said that events like the protest on Saturday are important and that it is important to see the government’s attempt to overwhelm people.
“It's important that we show up and show that we're involved in this fight against Trump's agenda,” Charite said.
Marie, who used to work for Santa Clara County at the public guardian's office, said she chose to spend her first day in retirement at the protest after working for the county for the past seven years.
Marie requested to use a pseudonym because she is concerned the federal government may target her old colleagues and employers for speaking up for them.
She also said she is worried she may struggle to access her Supplemental Security Income, Medicare and Medicaid benefits because funding cuts enacted by the Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Supplemental Security Income is monthly payments from the Social Security Administration that provide older adults and people with disabilities who have little or no income or resources, according to the administration’s webpage.
“I'm doing this because we want to get our benefits,” Marie said. “We're ready, we're done working and we're flooding their office with work. I just got my Medicare card.”
DOGE is tracking over 20 federal government departments, including the Social Security Administration, according to its website.
Around $1 billion of contracts between the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) and over 20 federal government programs and departments were canceled in January, according to a Jan. 29 X (formerly Twitter) post from DOGE.
This includes the Social Security Administration and the Dept. of Education, according to the same X post from DOGE.
Marie said she used to work with federal workers involved in Supplemental Security Income, Medicare and Medical benefits frequently when she was an employee at Santa Clara County’s Public Administrator, Guardian and Conservator’s Office.
“It's very disturbing to me, the way our federal workers are being treated,” Marie said. “They're very necessary in our society. They don't get paid a lot here.”
Ellenburg said she is also concerned about the funding cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal
– California’s program for Medicaid – will affect the county and its residents.
Around 30% of Santa Clara County’s revenue comes from the federal government, according to a webpage from the county.
Three hospitals and 13 clinics in the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare network are partially funded by the federal government, according to a flyer from the county.
“What I do genuinely worry about are negative repercussions to my county,” Ellenburg said. “The thought of residents being harmed by further pullback of federal dollars, by punishments directed specifically at Santa Clara County, are a real concern.”
