By Elisabeth Strillacci

SALISBURY — On Saturday, April 5, cities across the United States and in North Carolina saw gatherings of people participating in a coordinated Hands Off protest, and at the last minute, one came to fruition in Salisbury as well.

The collection of protests has been deemed the largest one-day nationwide display of protest in President Donald Trump’s second term, and organizers are already selecting more upcoming dates.

The three major organizers were the 50501 Movement, a loosely gathered group among Discord and Reddit users, the Indivisible movement and the Women’s March, but more than 150 groups and grassroots efforts joined in. The protests were in response to what many Americans see as an overreach by the administration in a number of areas, including but not limited to, the latest tariffs, schools, libraries, courts, veteran services, transgender rights, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, NATO, the federal workforce and abortion rights.

Joyce Nash, who has lived in Rowan County for several years after moving here from California, said she was unable to get to any of the larger cities where protests were planned, such as Greensboro, so at the last minute, she posted on social media that she was going to get out on the street in Salisbury to add her voice.

“I was watching the number of protesters joining, the number of events, and I just felt I needed to do something,” she said. She posted on Salisbury Indivisible’s Facebook page, inviting anyone interested to join her. She said she wasn’t sure if anyone would make it, but decided if she was the only one, then she would “be the person with the sign on the corner.” She didn’t want the moment to pass. As it turns out, she was joined by nearly a dozen others for the event at Bell Tower Green.

“It matters, having visibility in small communities for this kind of event,” Nash said. “This is the best way to connect with people, to build relationships. We need to know we are not alone. The past few months things have changed so quickly, and we all wonder, ‘can I speak out? Should I speak out?’ and we need to know we can.

“It’s fair to say the air feels charged,” Nash continued. “The temperature is going up. But we are safer in bigger numbers.”

Although there are varying reasons for protesters to have joined in the Hands Off movement, Nash said the most important thing, she believes, to come out of it are the relationships people build.

“It allows us to build roads, pathways to come together to work toward what is important to all of us,” she said.

She added that now, it is important to find a way to maintain the momentum that started April 5 in order to create long-term action. Her hope is that the efforts will spawn workshops and training sessions and more creative, non-violent protests to show the administration what the people they represent want and need.

“This is outside of our comfort zone for most of us,” Nash said. “There has been a lot of chatter online lately, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

In Washington, D.C., alone, more than 100,000 participants came out Saturday, far more than the number expected, and in cities like New York and Chicago the numbers were also higher than expected. In North Carolina, protests were planned Asheville, Durham, Pittsboro, Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Waynesville, Bolivia and Wilmington.

Another event is anticipated on April 19, and pending permit approval, Salisbury will be on the books for that one.