Crowds gather in front of the California Capitol building while protesting “50 50 Protest Days” against Project 2025 and President Donald Trump’s policies in Sacramento, California.
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Fred Greaves/AFP via Getty Images
Activists say the protests are scheduled to take place on Monday in several major U.S. cities, which are President’s Day holidays.
These demonstrations are organized by the 50501 movement, representing “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.” The protest is a response to what organizers describe as “the Trump administration’s anti-democratic and illegal conduct.” This marks the second national protest by the group following the event held on February 5th.
The protest follows a series of executive orders signed by President Trump, including actions led by billionaire Elon Musk.
Organizers like Sydney Wilson are local organizers in Pittsburgh and ideally host protests on the NPR, dedicated to celebrating the US president. I will tell you that it is a moment.
“We are interested in the current president’s actions so we are out and protesting,” Wilson says. “We thought it was a nice little punch.”
Here’s what you need to know about the 50501 movement and the President’s Day protests:
It started on Reddit
The idea for a day of protests in each state occurred on Reddit in late January by a user named Evolved_fungi. According to organizers, the concept quickly gained traction on a variety of social media platforms.
The first nationwide protest by 50501 occurred on February 5th. And although it didn’t attract hundreds of thousands of protesters seen on January 21, 2017, the day after Trump’s first inauguration, hundreds of people joined the city and state capitals. Includes Connecticut, Colorado and Hawaii. The organization estimates that nearly 80 protests have occurred in 88 cities.
During these protests, participants called for Trump’s bluff and removal from duties, demanding an investigation into Elon Musk, the leader in government efficiency, and diversity, equity, withdrawn through enforcement , called for a revival of the Inclusion (DEI) initiative. order.
For the next wave of protests scheduled to take place at the Capitol again on Monday at the State Capitol, Wilson says he expects similar turnout, if not bigger than the previous one. Their demands remain the same.
“We’re still asking for the removal of Elon Musk, and we’re very concerned that there are non-government officials who have access to what he does,” Wilson says. “And we would like to see the strengthening of the Anti-Discrimination Act.”
The group also advocates for investigations of Trump’s appointees, including conservative agenda architect Russell Vought, particularly appointees connected to Project 2025.
Wilson says the 50501 movement plans to bring more protests in the future.
Who supports 50501?
People will protest President Donald Trump and Elon Musk outside the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Michigan on February 5th. Jeff Kowalski/AFP hides captions via Getty Images
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Jeff Kowalski/AFP via Getty Images
The protest is coordinated with the Political Revolution, a group founded in 2016 after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (independent who conspires with Democrats). The group consists of volunteers and leaders “martled in support of black life issues, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and disabled rights and were at the forefront of justice.”
The group says it has not partnered with any political parties, and they have described Monday’s protest as a “stimulating call to action.”
“The current administration makes it clear that it cares more about the interests than the people. We refuse to wait as a group of people because they undermine the dignity of our community. “The group said in a statement. “We’re not just numbers and consumers. We’re people. We’re rejecting fascism. We’re rejecting oliheads. We’re rejecting the idea that others are less valuable than others. I’ll do that.”
The protest and the 50501 move have gained substantial support across social media platforms, boasting over 102,000 members on the Reddit page and over 600,000 members on Discord.
Additionally, Smart Girls, an organization founded by comedian and actress Amy Poehler and producer Meredith Walker, has fueled future protests.
Local and state Democrats also support the protest. During the February 5 protest, several Michigan State Legislature Democrats joined the Capitol demonstrators.
NPR’s Liz Baker contributed to this report.
