Local News
Protesters were reacting to Trump’s pause on military aid for Ukraine and slashes to the federal budget engineered by Elon Musk.
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night, hundreds gathered to protest in the Boston Common, reacting to both Trump’s pause on military aid for Ukraine and slashes to the federal budget engineered by Elon Musk.
The demonstration, called “Saving Our Union,” was organized by the local chapter of the national 50501 Movement, which promoted 50 protests in 50 states on one day.
Tuesday’s protest at the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Common was the third of the chapter’s organized protests in Boston. The movement began in early February, and saw nearly 1,000 people march from the State House to City Hall on President’s Day.
The turnout at the Bandstand appeared to be around 700 people Tuesday. Many held Ukrainian flags and signs that ridiculed Trump. Signs reading “Trump works for Vladimir Putin” and “Impeach Trump” were in the front of the crowd, facing the speakers on the bandstand.
Rebecca Winter, a representative for Mass 50501, spoke to the swelling crowd when the protest began at 4 p.m. Winter said the national leaders of 50501 wanted to plan demonstrations ahead of Trump’s speech.
“We will not be silent while the checks and balances that hold our government together are being manipulated to line the pockets of billionaires,” Winter told a cheering crowd. “We stand against violations of the U.S. Constitution and federal law. We stand against executive overreach. We stand against the unethical purging of civil service and the persecution of political opponents.”
Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem also spoke during the rally, along with a Northeastern University professor, a veteran, and other local activists. 50501 Massachusetts was accepting food to donate to the Boston Rescue Mission.
More protesters waved posters reading “Fire Elon now,” “No one elected Elon Musk,” “Stop Russia,” and more calling Trump a “traitor.”
Erin Connearney, a Boston Public Schools teacher in Dorchester, said “the horrors,” like the challenges that immigrants are facing during Trump’s second term, inspired her to attend the demonstration.
“It seems like the courts aren’t going to stand up, and even if the courts stand up, we don’t know what’s going to happen after that,” Connearney said. “I’m a teacher of immigrant students, so many of them are going to be affected by the TPS changes, and they’re heartbroken and scared, and they can’t come out and protest, and I can.”
Ukrainian blue and yellow dotted the crowd, marking support for Ukraine after the recent blow-up between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Alison Rochford, who called herself an “ally to Ukraine until the day I die,” emphasized support for Ukraine as a support for freedom and democracy.
“The partnership between our two countries has never been more important. We share the values of freedom and democracy, but Ukrainians know that democracy is not an end goal… It is a sacred privilege that we must protect and constantly maintain,” Rochford yelled to the crowd. She told the group to call their representatives to “tell them that real Americans stand with Ukraine.”
Another protester, Gabriel Ostriker of Weston, was holding a sign in solidarity with federal workers following mass layoffs affecting thousands of federal employees. An estimated 200,000 probationary workers were fired, a move a federal judge recently found was likely unlawful.
“I’m a dad, and I want to leave the world a better place for my daughter, and I feel this administration is taking them the other direction,” Ostriker said.
50501 is planning their first weekend demonstration for March 15, the “Prides of March,” and Winter said at least one member of the state’s congressional delegation could be slated to speak.
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