While thousands of protesters gathered on the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday in Salt Lake City, an estimated 300 showed up in downtown Heber City, joining one of over a thousand Hands Off protests across the country. “It’s all 50 states at 50 capitols over one day,” said Terri Goodall , with a small blue megaphone around her neck and waving an American flag. Goodall organized the Heber City version, Hands Off! Wasatch County Fights Back, on the mobilize.us website. She said that she worked with the Hands Off organizers to get the word out earlier this week for the lone demonstration on the Wasatch Back.“I’m shocked,” Goodall said looking at the size of the crowd lined up along Main Street next to City Park. Cars and some tractor-trailer rigs passing by honked at enthusiastic demonstrators on both sides of Main Street holding signs saying everything from “Beware DOGE” to “Dump Trump” and “Hands Off our Social Security!”“I thought maybe 30 people would be here,” said Goodall, delighted at the number of people who felt it necessary to make a statement like this in a small, largely conservative city. “People need to be able to send a message that they [representatives] need to defend our democracy.”The majority of the demonstrators were of retirement age, and most appeared to be over the age of 60. Goodall said that’s because “it’s clear they rely on Social Security” to maintain their standard of living. Signs included messages about Social Security, ICE raids, education and President Trump in general. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordThat’s why Mary Schever, her husband, Rick, and Schever’s friend Jane Bowers showed up to protest. Schever and Bowers, both 81, said that they believe “Trumpers” have “gone too far.” “No one is holding them accountable,” Schever said. “The man is a convicted felon, a rapist. … I mean, who bankrupts casinos?”Schever was referring to the four instances President Donald Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — in 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2009 — for his businesses, including the Trump Taj Mahal, the Trump Plaza Hotel, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, and Trump Entertainment Resorts. Chapter 11 allows financially struggling businesses to keep operating and avoid liquidation. But Schever and Bowers said that they are most worried about their Social Security and 401(k) accounts. Bowers, who relies on Social Security and savings as a retired person, said she reviewed her 401(k) standing on Friday only to find that she had lost $11,000 in the past week. The Associated Press reported Friday that Wall Street is experiencing its worst crisis since COVID’s impact on the global economy after President Trump on Thursday announced new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners, including a 34% tax on imports from China and 20% on the European Union in a looming trade war. Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 2,231 points, or 5.5%. The S&P 500 experienced its worst week since the pandemic in 2020, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 5.8%.  “It’s my backup,” Bowers said about her 401(k). “I live with my daughter and her family, it’s going to affect those younger generations. … Republicans are too engrossed in being Republicans instead of Americans.”The Hands Off! rally in Heber City was held beside City Park along Main Street on Saturday. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordCheryl Virginia, whom Schever and Bowers greeted with a joyful “Cheryl!” when she showed up to protest with her friends, supported Bowers’ sentiment.“Republicans need to be Republicans and not Trumpers,” Virginia said.Mike Dorsen, a Heber resident, said it’s not just Social Security and 401(k) at risk, but also benefits for veterans like him. Dorsen said he served a year in Vietnam. “They’re making it more difficult for veterans to get services in rural areas,” Dorsen said.Dorsen said he was a teacher for six years in New Jersey and then for 25 years in the Jordan School District. While he doesn’t rely entirely on veterans benefits, he said it’s important for veterans to get the support they need. Dorsen agreed with protesters like Schever who said they believed these risks are causing more harm than good. Schever, who lives with her daughter, said that politics is a “real sore spot.” Her daughter, she said, does not have the same political beliefs as Schever and her husband, Rick. Goodall agreed. While she was saying that elected representatives “need to restore the checks and balances” that President Trump has “blatantly ignored,” a passer-by turned to her and the crowd and voiced his distaste.“It’s horrible that you guys are doing this in Heber,” he said. “It’s a conservative area. It’s tearing people apart. Trump is doing the right thing.” When another protester quipped a comeback — “Oh yeah? Want to see my Social Security check?” — the man turned to follow him as he walked away, arguing further.Goodall, displeased but rolling her eyes at the interaction, said people “need to stand up for what they believe in.” Cindy Jensen, who held a sign across the street that said, “Musk was the first administrative error,” said she felt the protesters were there to express their opinion that “our country is in big trouble.”She was unfazed when a car passed with a man pumping his fist out the window and shouting, “Let’s go Trump!”“He’s ignorant,” she said. “He’s probably just watching Fox News and getting everything from one source.”Victoria Grondahl and Bill Hickey, Summit County residents who have been married for more than 30 years, stood together across the street from Jensen. Grondahl held a sign that read “Honk if you hate Nazis” on one side and “Elon gets $8 million in government subsidies” on the other. Heber City was one of at least a thousand locations across the United States holding a Hands Off! rally on Saturday. Credit: Clayton Steward/Park RecordThe side of her sign referring to billionaire Elon Musk referenced a claim by U.S. Rep. Gregorio Casar, who said Musk collects $8 million from government contracts per day. In October 2024, The New York Times reported that Musk’s companies were promised $3 billion across nearly 100 contracts in 2023 with 17 federal agencies. “Elon Musk needs to get his hands off our money,” Grondahl said, supported by Hickey, who said about his 401(k): “I would have to go back to work for a couple of years to get back what I’ve lost in the last week.” Hickey, holding a yellow and blue Ukrainian flag, said he supports “freedom around the world” and that he would like to see President Trump offering support to Ukraine “instead of Russia.”“We need to support all of our allies instead of punishing them,” Grondahl said, adding that she believes immigration reform in the hands of the Trump administration is a “real issue.”“We are all here because of immigration,” Grondahl said. With strict immigration reform, Grondahl said she is worried about extreme cases. Among a slew of deportations recently, a few incidents have made headline news. Friday, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. government acted illegally in deporting Maryland resident Abrego Garcia and sending him to a prison in El Salvador. At the end of March, a Turkish graduate student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, was detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security and deported. Hickey and Grondahl said that they attended the Heber protest instead of the showing in Salt Lake City because they felt like the Wasatch Back needed “more representation.” Both said they are saddened by the Trump administration’s “cruelty.” “We need more kindness in this country,” Hickey said. Grondahl agreed. “I grew up in a family of women with three sisters and a single mom,” Grondahl said. “We understand what we’ve lost.”The post Hundreds show up to protest on Heber City’s Main Street appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less