10,000 Rally at SF Civic Center Against Trump’s Agenda
Via the Fine Folks at Indivisible SF
San Francisco, CA, April 5, 2025: This afternoon, over 10,000 people joined the Hands Off rally at San Francisco’s Civic Center organized by Indivisible San Francisco and 50501, one of over 1,300 events in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. representing the largest single day of action since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. With Trump/Musk and congressional Republicans doubling down on their agenda of gutting Medicaid and essential services, everyday Americans are sending a clear message: take your hands off our healthcare, our Social Security, our civil rights, our freedom, and our education.
Speakers included representatives from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE), Working Families Party, National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), San Francisco Labor Council, IFPTE Local 21, immigrant rights organizations, the VA, Bay Resistance, Green Action, People’s March, People’s Budget Coalition, California State Senator Scott Wiener, writer and activist Rebecca Solnit, and others.
Alex U. Inn, co-founder of the People’s March, encouraged attendees to come to a rally protesting fascism next Saturday. “We can’t stop this movement,” the activist said. “We have to be in the streets as much as possible.”
CA State Senator Scott Wiener asked institutions to stand strong together, rather than conceding to the Trump administration’s demands. “Don’t bend the knee,” he said.
Speakers focused on the real-life consequences of Trump’s regime policies, including severe cuts to the VA system and blatant disregard for those who keep America safe. “The VA belongs to the veterans who fought for this country, the healthcare workers who serve them, and the taxpayers who fund it—not to Elon Musk, not to Wall Street, not to corporate lobbyists, and not to the politicians trying to sell it off piece by piece,” said Mark Smith, President of NFFE Local 1 at San Francisco VA Healthcare System, an occupational therapist & patient educator, and a Federal Unionists Network organizer.
Alma Santana, the Director of Immigrant Rights and Participation Civic Politics with Mujeres Unidas y Activas said: “This administration is cutting essential services, especially healthcare, while allocating more money to persecute us, lock us up, and take away our loved ones. We pay taxes; that’s why we demand that our money be used for the well-being of our communities, not to line the pockets of billionaires or expand ICE’s repressive apparatus.”
“We nurses are protectors of public health and advocates for our patients. We know — through both science and experience — that health is not just about medical treatment. It’s also about the world we live in,” said Cathy Kennedy, RN and president of National Nurses United. “We must stand up for a society that values people over profit. We must fight to protect these public programs, and we must fight to protect our unions. We need to tell them, ‘Hands off!’”
If the Republican money grab goes through, we face billions of dollars of additional cuts to our City budget,” said Fred Sherburn Zimmer – Organizing & Policy Director of Housing Rights Committee and member of People’s Budget Coalition. “That’s why we are calling on our mayor and elected leaders to stand with workers and the community to fight these reckless cuts, and to lead with San Francisco values by protecting public services, so working San Franciscans can keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.”
Writer and activist Rebecca Solnit closed the rally saying ”today is a great day, a historic day, it’s a day when global civil societies said “hands-off”.
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