A movement to protest the early actions of President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration took off Wednesday, as thousands of demonstrators gathered outside a federal courthouse in Philadelphia and at state capitols in Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Indiana.
Protesters waved signs decrying Trump; , the leader of Trump鈥檚 new Department of Government Efficiency; and , a hard-right playbook for American government and society.
鈥淒emocracy is not a spectator sport! Do something,鈥 said a sign held aloft by one demonstrator in Philadelphia.
The protests were a result of a movement that has organized online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Websites and accounts across social media issued calls for action, with messages such as 鈥渞eject fascism鈥 and 鈥渄efend our democracy.鈥
Outside the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, a crowd of about 500 people gathered in freezing temperatures. They denounced everything from Trump鈥檚 plans for Gaza to the rollback of rights for transgender neighbors and recent efforts to deport people who are in the U.S. illegally.
Catie Miglietti, from the Ann Arbor area, said Musk鈥檚 access to the Treasury Department data was especially concerning to her. She painted a sign depicting Musk puppeteering Trump from his outraised arm 鈥 evoking Musk鈥檚 straight-arm gesture during a January speech that some have interpreted as a Nazi salute.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 stop it and get Congress to do something, it鈥檚 an attack on democracy,鈥 she said.
Kelsey Brianne, a key organizer of the Michigan rally, learned about the protest movement Sunday night and has been coordinating speakers and safety protocols.
"I want to look back at this time and say that I did something and I didn鈥檛 just sit back,鈥 Brianne said on the eve of the protests.
Trump has signed a series of executive orders in the first of his new term on everything from trade and to . As Democrats in opposition to Trump鈥檚 agenda, protests have also begun.
On Sunday, thousands of people marched against Trump's plan for large-scale deportations in Southern California, including in downtown Los Angeles, where protests . ___
Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan, and Gabriel Sandoval in Phoenix contributed to this report. Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
