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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Hands off Philadelphia! [1]
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Date: 2025-04-05
Having just returned from the Hands Off! demonstration in Philadelphia, I really don’t have a lot of time to write it up. Philadelphia drew several thousand people, marching from City Hall down Market St. to the area near the Constitution Center in front of Independence Hall. It was completely peaceful and pretty orderly, as far as I saw, with city police generally out of sight or talking with the demonstrators and apparently enjoying the spectacle. I would also note it was a disproportionately whiter protest based on my limited observations. Also, the protesters for the most part skewed slightly older than ones I’d been to in DC 2017, for example.
In front of Independence Hall
Of course, it’s Philadelphia, so there was no shortage of strong opinions:
One of the issues I think everyone immediately recognized about these protests was the sheer number of outrages to be highlighted. As reported by the New York Times,
They came out in defense of national parks and small businesses, public education and health care for veterans, abortion rights and fair elections. They marched against tariffs and oligarchs, dark money and fascism, the deportation of legal immigrants and the Department of Government Efficiency. Demonstrators had no shortage of causes as they gathered in towns and cities across the country on Saturday to protest President Trump’s agenda. [***] Some demonstrators had specific issues, while others opposed the Trump administration and MAGA movement in general. “Hands off my money, rights, democracy,” one sign proclaimed. “Make lying wrong again,” said another.
But at least everyone could agree on one thing:
I thought this sign did a good job encapsulating the overall theme of the protests:
Given the week’s market meltdown, this one appeared particularly resonant.
Which brings up an important point: the timing of these protests. The most broad-based harm yet inflicted by the Trump administration on the general population of this country is still occurring, and that is the economic calamity Trump’s tariffs are causing (or will cause) to ordinary American citizens. You can imagine these same protests held three of four weeks from now and I think you’d see a more prevalent, dominant economic theme. And probably a lot more protestors, by orders of magnitude, in fact.
There were protests all throughout the Commonwealth, mirroring those across the nation.
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