For the second time this month, on Monday, February 17, tens of thousands of people in cities across the United States protested against President Donald Trump and fascist billionaire Elon Musk and their ongoing attacks against immigrants, federal workers and the social and democratic rights of the entire working class.

While some of the protests were called under the banner of the Democratic Party and the “50501 Movement,” which initially called for 50 protests in 50 states on one day on February 5, many more were organized independently. In Lansing, Michigan, 50501 organizers withdrew their support from the demonstration, which still drew hundreds of protesters despite the single-digit temperatures.

Protests drawing 1,000 people or more were held in New York City, Washington D.C., Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Los Angeles. Smaller but still significant demonstrations were also held in Charlottesville, Virginia; Hartford, Connecticut; Trenton, New Jersey; Augusta, Maine; Sante Fe, New Mexico; and Denver, Colorado.

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In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about 750 people marched downtown to protest the broad range of attacks by the Trump administration.

Kate told the World Socialist Web Site she came to the protest because:

It is kind of hard to put into words how much is wrong. Elon Musk is the unelected president. We are having a coup right now. Half of our politicians are privy to and support it; the other half are watching it happen. They are violating the Constitution. The cuts to federal funding, the unjust terminations of federal workers, will only adversely affect our communities and make them less safe, less robust and less beautiful. I fear for our people and our public lands.

She added:

It is not okay to deport people that aren’t doing anything wrong. I am the granddaughter of immigrants. I lived in California for 10 years, and immigrants made my community better; my life is richer for having them as friends and neighbors. I fear for their lives and safety. They deserve to be here. They deserve a chance at a better life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Jordan, a graduate student at Duquesne University studying US history, said she came to the demonstration “to protect our freedom. So many people fought and many died for them. And now Trump and Musk want to take them away.

“I believe in equality and human rights. Everything boils down to that. Every person needs to be treated equally.”

At the State House in Columbia, South Carolina, hundreds rallied against Musk and Trump carrying homemade signs that read: “Stop Musk the Nazi,” “Fight fascism,” “This is a coup” and “Liberty, Equality and Justice for All.”

In Greensboro, North Carolina, roughly 200 people protested Musk/Trump’s purging of federal government workers. Protesters chanted “Stop the coup” and held signs denouncing Nazis. One sign read, “You pay more taxes than Trump and Musk combined. Mad yet?”

A similar-sized crowd rallied in Boston, Massachusetts, where protesters called for Musk to be arrested and Trump to be impeached.

In support of the “Not My President” President’s Day protest in downtown Orlando, Florida, hundreds of people rallied outside of City Hall. In addition to signs denouncing Musk and Trump, several protesters carried a large banner that read “Free Palestine.”

Demonstrations were not just held in large cities. In downtown Staunton, Virginia, with a population of 25,300, over 50 people protested. Many carried signs calling for Musk’s arrest and in support of diversity and education. A protest organized by the Democratic Party in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with a population of 8,300, drew a few dozen attendees who also called for Musk to be arrested.

Over 100 people rallied in Atlanta, Georgia. Flags and signs were held in support of LGBTQ persons and against fascism. A few hundred rallied in Houston, Texas, where they chanted, “No Trump, no Musk, no KKK, no fascist USA.” Handmade signs read: “I swore an oath to serve the people while you serve billionaires” and “Gaza is not for sale.”

In New York City roughly 1,000 people marched from Union Square to Washington Square chanting, “Elon Musk has got to go!” “No kings!” and “Stop the coup.”

Protesters carried many signs denouncing different anti-democratic and fascistic aspects of the Trump administration. Some called for Musk to be fired and the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) eliminated. Others carried signs in support of immigrants: “Immigration built this nation!” Another sign read, “There is no LGB without the T” in reference to Trump’s fascist attacks on transgender people and science, in general.

One protester brought a sign that read, “They’re not cutting red tape. They’re cutting arteries.” Speaking to reporters with the World Socialist Web Site, she explained:

So, earlier, the New York Times described DOGE as cutting through “red tape.”… And I would say it’s not red tape. They have found the veins, and they are cutting out the arteries of our country, of our federal infrastructure.

People are really going to suffer for this. I have a dad who is a veteran. He’s got cancer, and he relies on the VA (Veterans Administration) for his medical care. I have disabled people in my family. We are really, really going to suffer…

This infrastructure has been won through the struggles of the working class. You know, workers’ rights and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). Those rules are written in blood. They always are. And if they are taken away, we are going to have to write them in blood again.

Despite frigid temperatures, protests drawing anywhere from 50 to a few thousand people occurred at capitals and in cities throughout the Midwest. In Chicago, well over 1,000 people marched in opposition to Trump and Musk. Protesters carried signs warning that the “only dangerous minorities are billionaires.” Others called to “Resist fascism” and against the rule of “kings.”

In Cincinnati, Ohio, roughly 100 people protested outside City Hall. As was the case at all of the protests, anti-billionaire sentiment was strong. One sign called for Musk to be deported and the government to be purged of “oligarchs.”

In Washington D.C., nearly 2,000 federal workers and supporters from the surrounding community protested outside of Capitol Hill on Monday to oppose Trump’s wrecking operation of the federal government, as well as attacks on social programs and democratic rights.

Nearly 30 percent of all of the federal government’s 2 million civil servants are based in the D.C. area. Some have moved recently to the region in order to follow their jobs, only to have them unceremoniously taken from them by President Trump and billionaire Musk’s “DOGE.”

“The biggest thing that’s been impacted for us has been the mass indiscriminate layoff of government employees,” said Shawn, a former probationary worker for the federal government who had been told of his firing only Saturday.

“I worked in the FDA. … On Saturday they sent out the email. It was the same day as my engagement, so this was my special engagement gift from the government.”

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Shawn explained that he had been working for the government since 2019, but he was part of the purge of “probationary” employees. “I was a fellow, then a contractor and then finally brought onto the government because of the work that I put out.”

He explained that while he was part of the union, “they have said nothing to me personally. I got the email on Saturday, and I haven’t heard much of anything yet.” He concluded, “The way I see it, if we don’t combat this now, we just show them what they can get away with.”

Another former worker told reporters that she had recently moved to the region from the West Coast, only to have been fired a few months later.

Alex, a federal worker, expressed his anger at the government’s attempts to scapegoat the immigrant population in order to attack the whole population. “We have the richest people [that] every day find scapegoats essentially to attack. And the more they scapegoat, the more divided we are, so the less of a chance we have to unify and confront these people.”