Updated on Feb. 18
Organizers say more than 1,500 people from Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, and Alameda showed up at Splash Pad park across from the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on Monday to show their opposition to the Trump administration’s flouting of democratic norms and laws and the gutting of the federal work force under billionaire Elon Musk. The event was just one in a wave of grass roots, peaceful protests taking hold in the Bay Area and across the country in recent days that have included protests at local Tesla dealerships.
Heather Haggarty, Sarah Wildes, Andrea Muchin, amd Maureen French
Word of the gathering by the Grand Lake Theater spread on social media and by word of mouth, as well through the Indivisible website, which serves as a clearinghouse for information about local events related to progressive causes. W. Kamau Bell, the former host of CNN’s “United Shades of America” and an Oakland resident, spoke to the crowd and exhorted attendees to stand up for their values.
Event organizers Heather Haggarty and Andrea Muchin said the turnout was far higher than the 50 people they had hoped to draw. “To have 1,500+ people show up — most of whom we didn’t know – showed us that our community of concerned and committed citizens is big and growing every day,” said Haggarty, a Piedmont resident and lawyer.
Muchin told Bay City News that she felt that people had been “paralyzed with shock and anger” by Trump’s initial actions and were looking for ways to take action.
Some protesters gathered first in the city’s Fruitvale District for a “Not My President’s Day” rally organized by Revcom Corps, before a march and rideout to Lake Merritt.
More volunteer-organized protests against Musk and Trump are planned for this week in the Bay Area, according to the Indivisible website. Congressional leaders head back to their districts and are expected to hold Town Halls, where some of these actions will take place. Other protests in the Bay Area and elsewhere are the result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day.
Photos by Heather Haggarty, Mary Ireland, Holly Hanke, and video courtesy of Jen Cavenaugh