PHOTOS: Hands Off! Rally in Washington DC

Tens of Thousands Rally Against Trump's Fascism in the nations capital.

Apr 07, 2025

It’s been a while since we saw some real numbers at liberal protests in Washington DC. There’s been a regular number of small actions happening around Trump and DOGE’s illegal purges of government workers, but no vast actions that you might have seen back in 2017.

That was until April 5th.

Over 1200 protests were organized by individuals across the nation, much like the #TeslaTakeDown actions of the last couple months. Organizers claim that the protests saw over one million people and 100,000 in Washington DC alone.

Arriving two hours early to the rally, it was already packed with thousands of people finding their spots in front of the Sylvan Theater. The theater is in the shadow of the Washington Monument and while it’s in pretty rough shape at the moment, it once saw Martin Luther King Jr speak to 26,000 people before the Youth March for Integrated Schools in 1959. (Somehow this was the first time in 20 years of covering protests in DC that I had been to the theater)

The action in Washington DC saw speakers from MoveOn, ACLU, AFGE, National Nurses Union, Indivisible and many others. Congressional leaders at the rally included Jamie Raskin, Ilhan Omar, Al Green, Don Beyer, Eric Swalwell and Katherine Clark.

Speaking with rally-goers there was a wide range of reasons for being there. Some were protest regulars who didn’t need more of a reason than there being a far right Republican in office, but some only attended because of specific Trump-admin decisions. All were most worried about Trump ignoring the judiciary. Three people surprisingly, all over the age of 40, never attended a rally before.