‘It’s just more gangster government’: Scenes from the ‘Hands Off!’ protests against Trump, Musk in Rhode Island

Ward’s protesting days go back to the 1970s when she marched against the invasion in Cambodia. But for her, Trump and his cabinet “are so unthinkable and frustrating.”

Ward said she questions why Republican members of Congress “never” challenge the administration, particularly when it comes to tariffs and what she says is anti-Europe rhetoric.

“The rule of law is gone. He’s making enemies around the world in our name,” she said. “We’re not at war, but we’re not at peace. What will it take to erupt?”

Many protesters held hand-made signs with statements including “Hands off my democracy,” “Trump, you betrayed us,” and “No kings in America.”

Spencer Barney said this wasn’t her first protest. In her 28 years, the few she has marched in have all been related to speaking out against the actions of a Trump administration.

“I’m really upset about the state of things. It’s like we stopped caring about our communities, said Barney, a Massachusetts native, as she held a sign that said “U.S. Mail: NOT FOR SALE.”

“It’s not that hard to care about other people,” said Barney, who said they were most upset about trans children who could not access gender-affirming care and immigrants being deported. “But it’s like this country forgot how to care, and that’s why we’re out here. To remind them.”

The “Hands Off” rally in Providence took place as thousands of similar protests were held across the country. In Boston, Celtic punk rock band The Dropkick Murphys took the stage at City Hall Plaza to, in frontman Ken Casey’s words, stand up for democracy.

“No kings here,” Casey said in an exclusive Globe interview behind the stage.

Thousands also demonstrated in separate protests in Concord, N.H., and Portsmouth, N.H.

Providence’s rally was organized by Indivisible Rhode Island, Climate Action RI, The Womxn Project, AFL-CIO, the Rhode Island Working Families Party, SEIU 1199 union, and other activist groups.

Shouting into a microphone in front of thousands, Daniel Denvir, the co-chair of Reclaim R.I., said he was “infuriated and ashamed” that the federal government has continued to send support to Israel. US support has “continued the Palestinian genocide,” he said. He also spoke critically of members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation.

US Congressman Seth Magaziner, a Democrat who was expected to speak during the protest, instead left soon after Denvir’s comments and did not speak.

Magaziner spokesperson Noah Boucher declined to comment. Denvir would not comment further on the record.

While standing in front of her walker, 100-year old Nora O’Brien Gervais said she has lived through 18 administrations, she has “never seen one quite like this.”

“It’s time to stand up, stand together, and let your voices be peacefully heard,” she told the crowd of thousands through a microphone while standing at the bottom of the steps at Providence City Hall.

“We need to tell you this, administration, to keep your hands off our rights, off our Medicare, off our Medicaid, off our security and off our Social Security, off our veterans rights, and off of our bodies,” said O’Brien Gervais.

On the steps of City Hall, members of the Extraordinary Rendition Band pounded on drums and sounded horns in between each speech.

Rhode Island state Representative Karen Alzate, who previously told the Globe how she had grown up in the shadow of deportation because her parents were undocumented, spoke before a crowd of thousands at the “Hands Off” protest on Saturday.

“The economy is for us. And we’re here to tell this administration that you will not continue to tax our money to use it for your game,” said Representative Karen Alzate, who said she is also introducing a bill locally that she said will tax the rich. “You will not continue to deport my family, my friends, my neighbors.”

Health care workers and union members also went after Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, a Democrat who proposed a state budget this year that cut millions from health care entities like hospitals and nursing homes. In response, the crowd of thousands shouted “Shame!”

“We have a saying in our union: When the boss says no, we say yes,” said Jesse Martin, executive vice president of SEIU 1199.

In a statement after the rally, Rhode Island GOP Chairman Joe Powers accused protesters of being “political operatives parading as grassroots advocates while demanding no oversight, no accountability, and no limits on spending.”

“Let’s be crystal clear, this ‘Hands Off’ movement isn’t about protecting people, it’s about protecting political privilege,” the statement read. “If these protesters really cared about what’s hurting Rhode Islanders, they’d be marching with signs that say ‘Hands Off Our Money.’ But instead, they’ve fallen for the latest round of D.C.-manufactured propaganda, spoon-fed by the Democrat Party and repeated verbatim by our very own Congressional delegation.”

“It’s not the people exposing waste, abuse, and fraud who are the problem—it’s the waste, abuse, and fraud itself,“ the statement contined. ”Why are the Democrats working so hard to defend bloated spending, unchecked bureaucracies, and programs that fail the people they’re supposed to help? What exactly are they hiding?"

Edward Fitzpatrick of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz. Carlos Muñoz can be reached at carlos.munoz@globe.com. Follow him @ReadCarlos and on Instagram @Carlosbrknews.