On April 5, protesters took to the streets in cities across the US. Portland’s event showed the diversity of opinions in the anti-Trump movement.  by Taylor Griggs Portlanders took to the streets en masse on April 5 to participat e in the local “Hands Off” mass mobilization, with thousands of people filling up the downtown waterfront to rally against the Trump administration. The event, organized by the groups 50501 and Rose City Indivisible, began at the Japanese American Historical Plaza, but the crowd—which appeared to contain at least 10,000 people—spilled out across Tom McCall Waterfront Park, onto Naito Parkway and the nearby Burnside Bridge.  The march spanned both sides of the Willamette River. photos: Taylor Griggs Many attendees carried signs protesting the actions of President Trump and collaborator Elon Musk, calling out the administration’s attacks on immigrants, trans people, federal workers, scientific research, and more. But other than sharing disdain for Trump, attendees appeared to hold a wide range of political perspectives and priorities, which were sometimes conflicting. This was also true of the groups that organized the rally, evident by apparently different views among organizers about if and how to work with police for the event.  Still, local organizers said they viewed the rally as a success. And the spirit of resistance was by no means limited to Portland, with millions of protesters turning out to events in more than 1,200 cities across the country, in red and blue states alike.  While the downtown Portland protest was the largest in Oregon, hundreds more people showed up to other rallies elsewhere in the city, including in east Portland and at Westmoreland Park. Thousands more people showed up to events in other cities in the Portland metro area and across Oregon, including in the state’s reddest districts. More than 125 people attended a rally in Madras, located in a central Oregon county Trump won by 30 points in November. A smaller demonstration in east Portland on Saturday morning.courtney vaughn The downtown Portland rally kicked off with speeches from activists and local elected officials, including City Councilors Angelita Morillo, Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Sameer Kanal.  “I see so many people here, prepared to hold one another, to help one another, to resist,” Morillo said. “This is not the end, this is the beginning. It’s not about what we do today, it’s about what we do the day after that, and the day after that…I believe that we will win.” The councilors tied national issues to local ones, urging people to get involved in the community and stand up for the most vulnerable Portlanders during a time of fear and government-sanctioned hostility toward marginalized groups. Protest signs ran the gamut of topics. Koyama Lane, who is Japanese American, talked about her grandparents who were forced into internment camps during World War II, and the anxiety many people feel now about history repeating itself as the Trump administration targets immigrants. She also shared the pride she feels to now be the first Asian American woman on Portland City Council. (Kanal, whose parents immigrated from India, is the first Asian American man.)  Kanal referred to Trump and Musk as a “dictator and his emotional security billionaire,” who  “want working class Americans to subsidize the super rich so a gaggle of oligarchs can remake America.”  “To all those fighting to destroy our democracy, let’s make this loud enough so they can hear it,” Kanal said. “America has no king. America wants no king. As far as I remember, that was actually kind of the point.”  Kanal said he has heard Portlanders talk about how the new City Council, with its more progressive, ambitious membership, is giving them hope during a time of national despair.  “Local government must be a firewall against the threat posed by the Trump administration, by austerity and by fascism,” he said. “I ask you to give us not only your hope, but your passion and participation. Come to protests like this, help build a movement, and make good trouble.”  Kent Ford, a co-founder of Portland’s Black Panther Party, talked about the interconnected struggles he’s fought against since he began his activism career in the 1960s, advocating for peace during the Vietnam War and against police brutality of Black Americans. Ford called on protesters to speak up for Palestinians as they “continue to lose their homeland” and face constant risk from the ongoing Israeli attacks that have killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza.  “We can put an end to that if we keep it in the streets. It’s the only thing they understand,” Ford said. “We have to keep it in the streets. Power to the people.”  The march weaved its way back downtown. The rally turned into a march, with thousands of people slowly making their way south on Naito Parkway and across the Morrison Bridge, before taking over Southeast Grand Avenue and heading back downtown via the Burnside Bridge. The energy remained high, but the sheer number of participants made it difficult to organize unified chants.  The protest’s broad anti-Trump theme and range of ideologies also made it hard for participants to convey a central message. At one point, someone attempted to get fellow protesters to join him in chanting the anti-capitalist slogan “no war but class war.” He was drowned out—perhaps not purposefully—by the apparently more familiar call and response: “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”   Back at the waterfront park, a more politically radical program was underway. Organizers from pro-Palestine, immigrant rights, and labor organizations had set up booths, and the discussion turned explicitly to class warfare and revolution.   “Trump is just a symptom of a much larger problem. Behind him is the system which has enabled all of this to happen. It’s a system which has allowed a tiny handful of people to gain immense wealth and power while the majority of us struggle every day just to survive,” a member of the local American Party of Labor chapter said in a speech. “This is not a democracy at all, it is a rotten, exploitative system which has outstayed its welcome and is begging for revolution.”   In reactions to the Portland rally on social media, some attendees highlighted the peaceful nature of the protest, and applauded the Portland Police Bureau for its participation in making the event safe. According to a PPB press release sent after the event, “participants were very collaborative and let [police] know the planned march route,” allowing the police to block off the streets to car traffic.  Bike cops corked off intersections, and there was apparently little conflict between police and protesters, save for the arrest of one person who allegedly vandalized a Portland Fire & Rescue truck.  Bike cops corking at the east side of the Morrison Bridge. “PPB helps facilitate a safe gathering and march,” the police press release was titled. “PPB is grateful for the collaboration of participants, which led to a safe event.” But representatives from Rose City Indivisible and 50501, the groups that co-organized the event, both said in social media posts that they didn’t collaborate with law enforcement.  “We have chosen not to work with the police due to their role in upholding the very systems of oppression we seek to dismantle,” an Instagram post from the local 50501 chapter stated. “Our movement prioritizes people-powered solutions, recognizing that true change comes from the collective efforts of individuals, not institutions.”  As past protest movements have shown, such philosophical disagreements may come to the surface in the future. For now, though, organizers and participants have overwhelmingly expressed positive reactions to the event, which was by far the largest protest during the new Trump administration. As Councilor Morillo put it in an Instagram post, “the antidote to despair is solidarity.”  Jennifer Price, a volunteer with Rose City Indivisible, told the Mercury she thinks there are benefits to a movement that encompasses so many different people and beliefs. Rose City Indivisible, for example, has been very focused on advocating for Palestine, and handed out signs at the rally with the message “Hands Off Gaza.”  But Price, who clarified that she wasn’t speaking on behalf of the organization, said regardless of your “issue,” the “common thread is that we want to stop the rising tide of fascism in this country.”  “There’s so much work that needs to be done, everyone can focus on what’s important to them,” Price said. “This administration is negatively impacting every American. All of us could do something for the issue that’s most important to them.”  ...read more read less