A sign held by a protester at the Arizona Capitol on April 5, 2025. The protest was one of more than 1,300 across the nation aimed at galvanizing people against President Donald Trump and his administration, which has sought to expand executive power to enact sweeping changes to the federal government and the fabric of America. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror
Thousands of angry Arizonans, including thousands at the state Capitol, rallied across the state on Saturday to send a message to President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk: Keep your hands off vital government services, the economy and civil rights.
“I’m upset at our government, specifically our president, and all these executive orders he’s taken to destroy what I believe are core values of what America should be,” said Cathryn Artwon, a student at ASU who voted for the first time in November and joined a protest in Tempe. “I feel like we’ve lost our empathy as a country.”
The protests in the Grand Canyon State were part of a national day of protest that saw more than 1,300 events across the country — many in heavily GOP areas that backed Trump by a large margin in the last election. The “Hands Off” protests included nearly 30 in Arizona alone, from Yuma to Flagstaff.
More than 600,000 people had registered in advance to attend protests, but final participation was unknown. In many locations, however, crowds dwarfed expectations: A march in Washington, D.C., saw five times more than the 10,000 that were anticipated, while the New York City protest stretched for nearly 20 blocks and overwhelmed city streets.
“I’ve been to several protests throughout the years, but it’s really important for all of us, especially in the East Valley, to come out,” Gilbert resident Barbara Esquivel-Garcia, who is a nurse, said as she joined more than 1,000 people at a protest in Mesa. “It’s super inspiring to see how many people came out.”
In Sedona, organizers said more than 900 people turned out to protest Trump and Musk, the world’s richest man, who has led the charge to gut federal agencies and unilaterally end a slew of federal programs, from scientific research to international aid to funding for American libraries and museums.
“We are fighting back with what I call the three C’s: courage, crowds, and the courts,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told the Sedona crowd.
Some 150 liberal and progressive advocacy groups worked under the Hands Off mantel to organize individual local protests. They were supported in part by 50501, an anti-Trump group that has been organizing protests of the administration since Trump began his second term in January.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said that they estimated the crowd size at the state Capitol to be between 2,000 and 3,000 people. The agency, which oversees the Capitol grounds, flew a drone over the rally and was seen patrolling the area on bikes.
The peaceful Capitol protest included a number of speakers, among them Democratic elected officials like Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, state Rep. Sarah Liguori and representatives from progressive organizations.
“I am actually the acting governor today,” Fontes told the amped up crowd from the back of a pickup truck parked in front of the Capitol building complex that organizers were using for speakers. Gov. Katie Hobbs is out of state, making Fontes, the No. 2 elected official, acting governor until she returns.
Fontes told the large crowd that they embodied the true meaning of the First Amendment: the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
“Those grievances are growing larger and larger,” Fontes said, adding that his office had to let six librarians go because the Trump administration abruptly ended federal grants this month. (Democratic attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, filed a lawsuit on April 4 challenging the funding cuts.)
Fontes said Trump’s executive order targeting how states can run elections makes his job harder — and our elections more vulnerable.
“I can’t talk to the Department of Homeland Security anymore to keep your elections safe,” he said.
Arizona is one of several states that is currently suing the administration over that executive order, arguing it is unconstitutional for the administration to usurp local control over elections.
Ansari, a first term Democrat from Phoenix, told the crowd that she believes that Trump’s policies are already being shown to be wildly unpopular with the majority of voters, pointing to recent victories for Democrats in Wisconsin.
“Your voice matters in all of this,” Ansari said, adding that Republicans have been advised against town hall events due to concerns raised from constituents. “Would they do that if their priorities were popular?”
Many of the speakers focused on telling those in attendance to organize or join local organizations, encouraging them to register to vote or persuade others to do so. Progressive organizations with goals such as ranked choice voting or getting more women elected to office had a presence at the Capitol rally, and a large number of the signs focused on issues of reproductive health and LGBTQ rights.
The ongoing war in Gaza was also a major point among speakers as well. Israel recently restarted ground operations and the Trump administration has begun deporting foreign-born students who have voiced support for Gaza or opposition to Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. This week, eight ASU students had their visas revoked.
The Arizona Mirror observed one altercation with a counter protester who carried a sign saying “God saved Trump to save our decaying people and country” and mentioned a Bible verse that states those in positions of authority are there as they’ve been put there by God. Organizers encouraged those in attendance to leave the counter protester alone as he had “free speech” rights as well.
Emily Holshouser contributed to this story.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
This post was originally authored and published by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
