Thousands of people took park in the Hands Off rally and march today. I don’t have time to share thoughts, but wanted to get my full gallery here on the front page as soon as possible.
Immense crowd at anti-Trump ‘Hands Off’ rally and march
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)
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Just got back from this. It was great. I saw you riding past some police barriers did they not have any problem with you going through them or did you get permission ahead of time?
I just went past. I didn’t ask. They didn’t mind.
Portland must be among the least BIPOC cities in America judging fro the photos, though to be sure the local protests here were also overwhelmingly non-BIPOC in a city that is 60% BIPOC. Perhaps BIPOC protesters feel much more likely to be targeted by law enforcement than non-BIPOC protesters? Or maybe they are more likely to hide from press photographers?
Question for y’all: Our protesters overwhelmingly drove to our protest in our normally-dead downtown using our normally-empty parking garages, as our transit usage is small potatoes compared to Portland and our bike mode share is the usual 0.20% you see in most of the country; How did Portland’s protesters get to the event? Did TriMet offer increased or special services? Were there special bike buses around town?
Looked like a gorgeous day for it.
We went over the Hawthorne. The bridge was raised when we got there and there were 10 times more cyclists and pedestrians than cars.
Walking around during the protest every bike rack was full. It was a glorious day. After the march all the local places were swamped.
Yep, 2/3 is white.
From 2020
White 66.4%
Hispanic 11.1%
Asian 8.0%
Multiracial 7.0%
Black 5.7%
Native American/Other 1.9%
Interesting, I didn’t realize Black was so low. Guess giving bonus points to black job applicants has worked as we now have 20% Black at my workplace.
Well, when you spend 82 years banning the very presence of black people within the territory and state under pain of public lashing, you tend to end up with a relatively low population of black people.
No special buses that I could see, but at least half the riders on the bus I was on were going to the rally.
The march crowd was so big that it shut down some E side bus routes. I left early to catch the 6 bus on SE grand but the buses we saw were moving ahead to catch up the schedule and we couldn’t board until we got up to Wasco. If TriMet was informed of the march plan they didn’t re-route any buses.
The crowd size appeared to exceed expectations, there weren’t loudspeakers away from the stage for instance. I don’t really blame TriMet for being flatfooted, I sort of expect it. It is disappointing to see the number on a bus and then have it go by a stop where several people are waiting.
There were tributary rallies where people assembled and then took bikes or transit downtown.
I had a great time! There was such a vibrant sense of energy and resolve in the crowd — thank you, Portland, for a much needed bit of communal therapy.
I was so impressed with the display of humanity I witnessed that I’m motivated to push back on David’s criticism of the lack of diversity. Yes, the activist space from which yesterday’s march emanated is certainly a White one. So what? Does being White mean I should not oppose the ascendence of authoritarianism in our country? I would have loved to see more minority representation in the crowd. But I DID see lots of beautiful diversity coming together to be heard, and I’m giving my huge ‘thumbs up’ to what we accomplished instead of wringing my hands about the many, many ways such a rally falls short of what the moment requires.
The implicit premise that David invokes (that political action that is not lead by and doesn’t center BIPOC activists is hollow and performative) is an example of the type of corrosive gotcha analysis that impedes the development of broad coalitions that combine the energy (political power) of the many factions of the contemporary American left. We’re all in this together, and we need to build solidarity across class and political divisions. To do so we (really) need to avoid fighting amongst ourselves. So let’s talk about diversity. And Israel. And housing. And patriarchy. And racism. And immigration. And capitalism. And the dependence of democrats on wealthy donors. But let’s be clear that everybody to the left of full scale christian nationalism needs to row the same direction right now!
And to David’s question about transportation, I rode the bus and it was full of protesters both ways. Many in the crowd had bikes (some with speakers), and there were bikes locked all over the place. I presume, given the huge amount of people, that lots of them drove there. And, yes, it was a gorgeous day.
Well said.
Why do y’all think we’re in this mess? I hope progressives learned from 2020 that divided we fall.
I don’t think we should ignore racial dynamics, but we over-emphasize them at our peril.
I think you meant 2024 but not sure since the Biden bashing was pretty common here and maybe you meant the Biden win.
Where are the Jill Stein and Gaza protestors now?
FAFO is a real thing and the voters last November (including some folks here), are finding out.
I’m a Biden and Democrat basher and I held my nose and voted against Trump. Perhaps instead of left-bashing the trivial number of genuinely left-wing voters, you would consider how your Randian party performed so poorly among latine voters, black voters, and young voters that at one time made up your “coalition”.
One election changed all the coalitions?
If the election was held tomorrow who do you think would win?
I doubt the person who just crashed the world economy but
you socialists know better.
The election will be held over three years from now and I could imagine President Vance “winning”* and ceding the presidency to Trump for a 3rd turn.
*Via massive voter repression and outright voter bribery all validated by the de facto Alito led NSupreme Court
Trump can’t become VP because he can’t run for president, and presidential eligibility is required to be VP. The Constitution is crystal clear on that point.
Maybe he could become the Supreme Court Chief Justice like President Taft did? Or the governor of Greenland?
You believe Trump, who has already run rough shod over laws and the constitution, can’t serve a 3rd term because he and his MAGA fascist movement have respect for the constition? LOL!
Even so, the law over Trump serving a 3rd term via a Putin-Medved gambit is not as clear as “centrists” might like:
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-04-01/trump-could-serve-a-third-term-here-s-how
I am not at all concerned that Trump will run for a third term. He gets a lot of benefits from talking about it, and you may even believe it himself, but it is not going to happen.
Trump cannot run for vice president, so to pull a shenanigan like the one you mentioned, he’d have to be a speaker of the house and get two people ahead of him to resign. It’s just not going to happen.
Also, he’s popular now, but do you really think that’s going to hold for 4 years of this craziness?
Remember, you heard it here first.
He’s going to be 79 soon.
SEVENTY-NINE.
He’s an old guy, and his health is not optimal.
The problem is all the hard-right operatives that are propping him up and whispering in his ear, guiding his insanity while he teeters through his term in office.
He is definitely NOT acting alone, or independently.
Trump is a smokescreen for what’s going on behind the curtain.
His age was another point I was going to mention, but didn’t. I wouldn’t describe him as “teetering”, but that may well change in 3 years.
I do not at all get the sense that he is being controlled by operators “behind the curtain”.
Well, neither the nation nor congress nor the courts cared while Biden’s advisors ran the country so I wouldn’t count on rump’s old age to save us.
It really is going to be up to the population to put aside performative feel good movements and really get down to business if we want to rid ourselves of what’s happening.
In a way its good that we can finally see the dangers of a big government that has far too much power and zero accountability. When that power was wielded/abused by Biden’s aids it was glossed over, now that rump is doing it and it is obvious then with any luck we will be able to do something about it.
After all, if the ability of the government to be good is dependent on the whims of the people in power than it showcases the lack of checks and balances and that the government has too much power overall.
Trump’s use/abuse of power is far more expansive than anything Biden did. The checks on presidential power are congress and the courts; congress has so far been a non-participant, but that could change as the economy falters, and anything can happen in the courts.
It’s really too soon to know how things are going to play out, though of course the “everyone is corrupt” nihilists think they know.
Who are the ones that aren’t corrupt and why aren’t’ they actually doing something? They didn’t do anything to stop Biden’s aid’s abuses, and they still aren’t doing anything to stop rumps far more (to borrow a phrase) expansive use and abuse of power.
The problem is of course the binary aspect of the political system and how it has negated any of the checks and balances. If you think congress or the courts have been a check on rump than please let me know what news sources you are reading so I can put on the rose colored glasses as well.
We as a nation are back to using black sites (if we ever stopped) and now it is right out in the open and still nothing is being done. People with papers disappearing into El Salvador is a national disgrace and an utter horror. If the checks and balances haven’t kicked in to stop that, then what good are they?
Many of Biden’s actions or proposals were stopped by congress or the courts, so I honestly don’t know what you are specifically referring to.
I already said that Congress has not, so far, applied the brakes to Trump, but as more people start freaking out about the economy and the attack on the federal government, that could change.
Most of what’s happening in the courts is slow and subject to appeal and counter-appeal, and is focused on what is legal/constitutional, rather than what is good policy. That’s just how they work. It is simply inaccurate to say nothing is happening, even if it is slower than you or I might wish.
RE Rose colored glasses… Here’s an episode of this American Life that reenacts parts of the transcript of an interesting court case that kind of gets to your question. I don’t have a link, but it is Episode 857, The Museum Of Now. It’s the third story, about Trump’s attempt to ban transgender people from the military.
I had read the results of that case, but I hadn’t read the transcripts of it so thank you for the suggestion!
I hesitate to start a discussion on whether I agree with the Judge’s decision or not or on the overall stated goal of removing transgender individuals from the military as that subject seems to be one of the few third rails JM has for his site. I will say though that the description of the transgender soldiers as given by the government is inflammatory, rude and unnecessarily cruel and is definitely an unfortunate product of the way the President and Secdef think of others.
“I hesitate to start a discussion on whether I agree with the Judge’s decision or not or on the overall stated goal of removing transgender individuals from the military”
The judge wasn’t concerned with whether it was good policy or bad, but with the legality of the executive order. The process was slow (including a 10 day recess), but that allowed the judge to create a factual basis upon which she could build her ruling.
These things take time, and we are only just at the beginning.
Agreed that building a factual background can and does take time . I just don’t agree that we have the luxury of that time, but what else is there to do? It’s very frustrating. I for one have no desire to end up in Cecot down in El Salvador because the government said without offering proof that I belong there. All while the lawyers argued the process through the layers of court. There’s no reason to think I’d end up there, but there’s also no reason to think any of those other people would end up there as well.
Indeed… what else can we do besides take the time the available remedies require?
It seems almost certain that we’ll make changes to the system in response to the current chaos (as we did in the wake of Nixon/Watergate), but that will likely require at least one election for Democrats to, at the very least, recapture the House (and yes, I am quite confident we’ll have an election in 2026 and again in 2028).
For example, Congress can change the laws around deportation, but at some point someone needs to make a decision about who can be deported and why. Allowing that on the grounds of national security seems reasonable, but creates the problem of someone abusing that power to deport political opponents. Taking it away creates other hopefully obvious problems when a national security threat is real and there’s no legal means for extradition.
Additionally, Congress has the constitutional power to impose tariffs, but granted that power to the president because of past difficulties getting things done in Congress (a problem not unique to the 2020s). If Congress takes that power back, the earlier dysfunction is likely to return, leading to eventual calls to grant that power back to the president.
And around she goes. Who would have thought democracy would be so messy?
And around she goes. Who would have thought democracy would be so messy?
Its almost like we as a people have to keep working at it and not take a collective nap and cede whatever power we have in hopes that those people will even care about us (whoops?). What a bummer!!
(and yes, I am quite confident we’ll have an election in 2026 and again in 2028)
It’s always interesting reading from those that are convinced or have been convinced that the elections will be cancelled and instead of ballots the government will mail out Handmaiden’s outfits (a good book by the way, startling when released. I have no desire to watch the show) to all regardless of gender. Then, while expressing such a totalitarian, dystopian future they seem to think that writing sharply phrased letters and embracing economic theories (that are proven to result in those totalitarian fears being actualized) and nothing else will be enough to stave off the apocalypse of their mind.
Here’s another angle: The GAO has started an audit of DOGE. Again, this is going to take a while, but it seems likely to cover a lot of ground:
https://www.wired.com/story/gao-audit-elon-musk-doge-government-agencies
Vance is an even more committed fascist than Trump.
“Remember, you heard it here first“
Reminds me a bit of Woody Harrelson’s character in the movie, 2012.
“Always remember folks, you heard it first from Charlie” as the super volcano erupts.
That clip does not make me want to see that movie!
A wise choice
It was a fun idea poorly executed and far too long, but great for background noise for the dog.
More centrist wishful thinking?
Except that multiple constitutional law experts have said that he could run for Vice President, as is noted in the Bloomberg piece.
Seems pretty clear to me. I can’t read the Bloomberg article, so it’s hard to know what machinations they came up with.
By progressives do you mean people further left politically than liberals? Like radicals? And what was the lesson the progressives would have learned from 2020? Asking in a normal way because I’m not clear.
All these labels are so limiting and confusing, but they’re often helpful in these conversations.
What I’m trying to convey is that I believe a large swath of the left spent a lot of effort criticizing allies about relatively unimportant things instead of keeping the eyes on the prize and working together better to be strong and make progress.
“Progress” for the broad coalition of college-educated and mostly-white people but less so for the non elite classes.
To add a differing perspective, I believe large swaths of the left don’t see liberals as allies when it comes to material conditions. Idpol gets in the way for sure, but the “allies” could always have just made adjustments according to the criticisms of huge swaths if they truly wanted to work together — why dig in the heels when it’s relatively unimportant, and a political coalition is presumably more important to centrists?
Not everyone shares the same opinion of what’s important, and not everyone has the same definition on what constitutes “progress” or what direction progress should take. If working together is to be taken seriously then the opinions of large swaths of the left should count towards policy. When it doesn’t then it looks a lot less like working together.
oof Jonathan, “criticizing allies about relatively unimportant things” is an incredible minimization of genocide. the main reason folks criticized Kamala and ‘vote blue no matter who’ was because the Biden administration supports the complete destruction of Palestinians in Gaza. Ta-Nehisi Coates summed it up: if Democrats can’t draw the line at genocide, why would they draw the line at democracy. and that is exactly what we’re seeing now, Democrats acting completely powerless, doing absolutely nothing in the face of Trump’s ascending authoritarianism. This very large peaceful protest will have no effect on policy, the president has already forgotten about it if he ever even thought about it at all.
I’m commenting to you because you tend to be pretty thoughtful about your place in the community, so i’d suggest reflecting on what “eyes on the prize” means for you vs what it means for folks who did not support Kamala in the last election. I agree, labels are limiting and confusing but if you focus on the substance of the criticism, you may realize it wasn’t unimportant.
Why are you bringing up genocide?
Why are you assuming so many things about what I’m thinking?
My only point was to say that I feel like a bunch of folks on the left were quibbling about relatively small things and focusing on purity tests of other lefties, instead of organizing together to fight as a more united front. That’s all.
What were some of the issues the left was “quibbling” about? The big one was the conflict in Gaza. I don’t know any others that had a significant impact on dividing the left and changing how people voted.
Hey and just because this is as good a place as any to ask, have any of you who poopooed the notion that the Democratic party’s coronation of Harris was a bad idea had second thoughts?
I think what you’re saying here denies the possibility of a positive political program or vision(what you want to make happen) and only allows for a negative one (what you’re against). People who identify as centrist seem to be saying that the united front and common goal can only mean being against right wing agendas and policies. But they don’t want to talk about what we are for, because the goals diverge sharply at that point, and it’s hard to forget how dismissive they are to concerns of the left when they have power and the ability to act.
I truly don’t know what you mean when you say “quibbling about relatively small things and focusing on purity tests” then because the reason the left is not unified is almost solely because of the genocide in Gaza. What else is there besides that? Trans rights? Abortion? Immigration? Are those small things?
I wasn’t going to bring up Gaza since it seemed like it was missed or passed over in this micro discussion, but yes, scolding the left for not falling in line in this context is particularly ridiculous.
It’s worse than that… democratic senate leadership actively voted for Trump’s budget despite the fact that this was the only leverage they had against his racist, xenophobic, and authoritarian rampage.
Would shutting down the government have actually increased Democrats’ leverage? I highly doubt it — it would have made Trump’s job that much easier, and let him blame Democrats for the damage.
Agreed!
Broad coalitions of mostly white people, apparently.
This makes sense only when you use the perverse ‘murrican definition of “left” as free-market fanatics (e.g. the democratic party).
Is there any country in the world that practices the politics you promote constantly?
Give us a good example of a successful non market oriented country?
There is none that I can think of. Maybe you can explain what you even mean if that is possible.
Thanks!
I am embarrassed to live in a shit hole nation where almost every last vestige of the New Deal and Great Society non-market policial movements have been erased by the democratic party (either as willing dupes of the rethugs or by their own actions) and republican party.
Thanks for the response, Soren.
As I said above, I welcome BIPOC activism with open arms, but I’m not going to apologize when White people organize themselves and speak out.
We get that you don’t like us. What I’m asking of the community is that we work together even while acknowledging irreconcilable philosophical differences. Being right is different than being politically effective. Just because I think you’re wrong doesn’t mean I think you don’t belong. So while it may piss you off that I consider my politics to be ‘left’ while being neither destitute nor brown, I’m hoping we can work together.
I couldn’t make this specific protest, but in 2020 TriMet (not sure if intentionally or not) had special late night MAX service under the guise of work on the Steel Bridge causing disruptions. A ton of protesters took advantage of that.
Or maybe BIPOC have different concerns than the primarily white progressive college educated folx at the protest?
We biked from the Tigard protest to the Portland protest! Along the way we saw SO MANY people standing at Trimet bus stops with protest signs waiting to take public transit downtown! It was so good to see! I was told that the buses were packed. It would be interesting to see ridership numbers from Trimet!
Hilarious.
The “Hands Off” Soros Protest: Astroturf Rage for the Terminally Deranged
Why spread that garbage?
Moreover, why did Johnathan approve the post? From the first paragraph of his wikipedia entry “He is known as a leading promoter of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory.”
Hi Dylan,
I’m not here to shield people from ideas. I think it’s better for us to know what type of stuff is out there, instead of putting our heads in the sand and acting like it doesn’t exist. If you don’t agree with a link someone shares, just keep scrolling! I do that all the time. I knew from the title of the link that it wasn’t worth reading, but I don’t want to get into the position of spending a bunch of time sanitizing comments and deleting things when I think the community can do its own policing and reacting to things. It’s sort of like how activists would not erase offensive graffiti, and instead just write over it. I want people to know what’s out there, and then know how folks react to it and understand what deserves attention and respect and what doesn’t. Thanks,
Yeah, typical wingnut self-canceling talking points: If it were “Soros-funded astroturfing,” then it would NOT be a case of “No policy push. No unifying direction.” Or vice versa.
Still waiting for my Soros-check to clear the bank for my work on Saturday! It’ll come any minute now….
Say, I wonder how Musk’s “random” million dollar “giveaways” in Wisconsin is going.
You didn’t get yours?
Was a good read. Thanks.
Incredible turnout!
I was near the front at the start, and paused at the top of the Morrison bridge to watch for a bit.
It took 45 minutes for the tail end of the crowd to get passed the start of the march (Naito, under the Burnside bridge). By the time I was leaving, there were still people on Naito waiting to get up into the Morrison Bridge while the front of the crowd had already reached the Burnside bridge from the East Side.
Excellent photos, Jonathan.
I was disappointed with the poor coverage of the nationwide protests in the New York Times. I would like to see a good assessment of the national news coverage of the Hands Off! protests. If anyone comes across this, please post.
Press coverage is essential to the impact of protests. “If the press doesn’t cover it, it did not happen.” Coverage that minimizes or is selective is almost worse than none. Are newspapers exhibiting “anticipatory obedience”?
After the national news (especially the NYT) wrote so much and so often (and so selectively) about “Portland Burning” during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, they don’t even mention Portland in their coverage of the largest nationwide protests since then?
Maybe perhaps the media is more focused on cities in states that are more likely to impact the next election than those that tend to vote entirely one way or the other?
I’m not sure why you would expect anything of the New York Times given that it has marched every right-ward in its perennial sane-washing of Trump and his MAGA/Republican party based on its perverse definition of unbiased coverage.
Oh boy now even the NYT’s is far right….oh please just stop the nonsense.