Hundreds gathered on Wednesday in a nationally coordinated protest at the Texas Capitol, marching down Congress Avenue to oppose executive orders from the Trump administration and the Texas Legislature’s policy agenda.
The movement, organized by the 50501 organization and political action committee Political Revolution, aimed to organize protests in every state. According to a news release circulated by an event speaker, the protests demanded the removal of Donald Trump from the presidency, an investigation of Trump administration allies and appointees, and the rescinding of Trump’s executive orders.
Protest organizer Mari, who declined to give her last name, said she opposed the way the justice system handled Trump’s criminal convictions. Mari said many of the protest leaders had not met each other in person before the protest but organized to coordinate the event.
Protesters who attended the demonstration condemned Trump’s policies as being “pro-billionaire,” with many of his cabinet appointees being billionaires. Demonstrators carried picket signs against Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who leads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is a federal task force not officially included in the president’s Cabinet.
“His policy revolved around specifically only benefiting a certain sector of the billionaire class that is kissing his ring,” said Daniel Ramirez, a computer science freshman who attended the protest. “All of the policies that he said would benefit American people and led to him winning are really not the case — I think prices are gonna get higher, (and) I think rights are going to be taken away.”
Mia Obregon, a social work and women’s and gender studies senior, said she opposes Trump’s healthcare policies concerning reproductive rights and education policies on conversations surrounding women and racial minorities.
“His positions on diversity, equity and inclusion are disgraceful to education and to the community that every single city in the country has,” Obregon said. “DEI is so important, especially in education. … It helps everyone to come together, and without it, that’s just not what our country should be.”
Some protestors handed out “know your rights” flyers in both English and Spanish to other attendees, detailing guidelines of what to do when approached by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Protester AJ Lopez Velarde said she personally knows people who fear confrontations with ICE.
“We have co-workers who are undocumented at our job, and we had the health department coming, but they dressed a lot differently than they would,” Velarde said. “Everybody just froze up because they thought it was ICE. Some of my workers, who usually go in the morning, had to change (their schedules) to come to work at night because they are scared of getting pulled over, and I don’t think anybody should have to be afraid of that. That is why I am here.”
State Rep. Gene Wu, the chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, also attended the protest. Wu said the issues protesters cited extended to Texas politics and encouraged Texans to “get out here” and protest against elected officials who he feels are not standing up for Texans’ rights.
“This happened on its own,” Wu said. “This is the people coming out and saying they are pissed. And we need more of that. We need people to be enraged and engaged. If you’re watching what’s happening at home and saying, ‘This is not right; this is not the America I believe in,’ then do something about it. Don’t just sit on your ass and complain.”
