A crowd outside the Massachusetts State House quickly grew to hundreds of people around noon on a frigid Wednesday as people chanted their frustrations with President Donald Trump, his policies and members of his leadership, including billionaire Elon Musk. Within an hour, the crowd was on the move marching through Boston Common waving signs and chanting, “No Trump, no KKK, no Fascist USA!”
Many of the protestors say they found out about the protest online under the hashtag #50501, meant to represent 50 protests in 50 states happening on one day. Similar protests occurred at state capitols across the country.
“I think the straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when Elon Musk decided to pretty much take over the Treasury and make it his place to control where the money is going,” said Jackie Fuller, of Westford, who had a homemade sign reading “Stop the Coup.” “That was infuriating to me.”
Husein Rokadia said he wanted to be in the crowd in solidarity with everyone who came out. Rokadia, of Arlington, is originally from India and now a naturalized citizen of this country.
“I love the democratic process. And I feel that there’s considerable risk with the state of the nation as it is today. And I’m just here to voice my support for all the protesters out here,” Rokadia explained. “I want to leave a democratic nation behind for me, for my children and for the ones who come after us. This is such a hard thing to get, and it would be such a sad thing to lose.”
The crowd continued to grow through the early afternoon, stretching from the foot of Beacon Hill, across Beacon Street, and onto the front steps on the public side of the gate of the State House. Traffic continued to move down Beacon Street with protestors packing the sidewalks on each side. A small contingent of Boston Police and Massachusetts State Police monitored.
