‘So Many Issues, So Little Cardboard’: Thousands turn out waving flags and signs for ‘Hands Off’ rallies in Santa Cruz and Watsonville

Thousands converged in Santa Cruz and in Watsonville on Saturday afternoon to participate in the national “Hands Off” political rally against the Trump administration.

Volunteers at Indivisible Santa Cruz, one of the primary organizers of the local rallies, said that more than 1,300 people had registered for the event in advance. The number who actually attended in front of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Ocean Street was probably two or three times that.

“It’s really touching,” said Invisible Santa Cruz organizer Amanda Harris Altice as the rally was dispersing about two hours after it began. “This shows that we can put out the call, and people will answer that call.”

The two local rallies were among more than 1,000 similar gatherings Saturday across the United States in protest of the actions of President Donald Trump’s second administration. Organizers said the coordinated effort was meant to communicate the wide range of interests and issues that are under attack by Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Santa Cruz rally featured more than a dozen speakers, before a large upside-down American flag (a symbol of distress). The program was hosted by local activist Ayo Banjo. Among the speakers were District 3 County Supervisor Justin Cummings, and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin. Speakers led the crowd in “Hands off!” chants, and local NAACP president Elaine Johnson read verbatim from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 “Revolution of Values” speech. 

The rally was given a festive, only-in-Santa-Cruz vibe when local icon “Krazy George” Henderson led the crowd in performing the Wave. Over on Water Street, another instantly recognizable Santa Cruz figure, Curtis Reliford, danced and played music from his famously star-spangled trailer truck. “Santa Cruz is the model for the whole United States,” he said. “There’s nothing but love in Santa Cruz.”

In the crowd, creative signs, costumes and graphic T-shirts (very graphic in some cases) were everywhere. Mary Geyer of Santa Cruz showed up with an elaborate knitted creation of the American flag dramatically unraveling, her symbol for a constitutional democracy coming apart at the seams. “I had a lot of frustration and energy,” she said. “And I like to make things.”

A group of local women, all dressed as witches, were on the courthouse steps on the Water Street side staging a public “mass hexing” of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, casting a spell before the crowd every 15 minutes. Another woman wore the red shawl and white cap featured in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Yet another was dressed as Wonder Woman — “Compassion is my superpower,” she said. 

As with any protest, the stars of the moment are the handmade signs, and the Santa Cruz rally featured hundreds, many on the “Hands Off” theme of the moment. There were signs that were relatively pious and sober-minded, from “Jesus Walks With Us” to one quoting Thomas Jefferson. But there were many others that were much more crude, humorous and referential, including “Orange Lies Matter,” “Make Idiocracy Fiction Again,” “Feminists Trump Fascists” and “I Will Not Obey the Red Hats.” One woman had a sign that was simply nine capitalized letters fashioned in a square: “OMG WTF GOP.”

On the divider between the lanes on Water Street, Audra from Bonny Doon held a sign with a quote from Sen. Cory Booker from his record-setting speech from the floor of the U.S. Senate earlier this week: “If America hasn’t broken your heart, you don’t love her enough.”

“It just really struck me,” she said, adding that on the evening Booker broke the record, she went to bed listening to his speech on headphones. 

Another sign expressed the staggering number of issues that spawned the protest: “So Many Issues, So Little Cardboard.”

The crowd demonstrated the wide diversity of the Democratic/liberal/left coalition, from people proudly waving American flags to those protesting on behalf of Gaza. Many, however, were mainstream people not used to attending such rallies.

“I don’t know what else to do,” said Moose Mitchell, observing the crowd and waving his own sign. “I hate just standing around waiting for someone else to do something.”

The nationwide rallies are largely a response of liberal outrage at a number of Trump administration actions and initiatives. But in recent weeks, rank-and-file progressives have directed their wrath to leaders in the Democratic Party that they say are not doing enough to confront Trump.

State Sen. John Laird was also on hand, though did not speak. When asked what he thought of the anger aimed at the Democratic Party by many in the general public in the weeks and days leading up to Saturday’s rally, Laird likened the moment to the fight against AIDS in the 1980s, in which activists were all divided into various groups and factions. “We were all angry at each other then, too,” he said.

In Watsonville, around 300 community members filled the city’s downtown plaza, carrying signs that read “DEI makes America great” and “Protect Democracy.” Olivia Millard, a member of Indivisible South County, said she’s never seen a rally this big in Watsonville in a long time. 

“I’m overwhelmed by the show of solidarity of people from across southern Santa Cruz County, who are disgusted with what this administration is doing and are absolutely wanting to make their views known,” Millard said. 

Protestors stood along the side of Main Street, chanting “Si Se Puede” and “This is what democracy looks like” as cars driving past honked their horns as a way to show their support. 

Millard said that people showing up to Watsonville’s city plaza on Saturday is an indication of how important the immigrant community is to the city. “Hopefully, it helps send the message to our immigrant community, we love them, we value them, we know what they bring, and we’re here for them,” she said. 

It’s thrilling to see that people are ready to take to the streets, said organizer Nancy Faulstich. “They’re ready to unite across every kind of difference, and say, ‘We demand a government that’s as it’s been a democracy for the people,’” she said. 

Saturday’s protests are not going to be the last time a protest like this happens in Watsonville, she said, adding that it’s important for people protesting to realize that they are not alone in what they’re feeling and worried about. Having multiple events around the county is great because it brings more awareness to what’s happening, Faulstich said.

“We do have the power that enough people uniting can stop the terrible things that are happening. They do not really have power over us. We may feel helpless in the face of this, but we really are not helpless,” Faulstich said. 

Watsonville protest speakers, including County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah and Blanca Baltazar-Sabbah, vice president of student services at Cabrillo College, spoke about advocating for the county’s most vulnerable populations, including immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community. 

“Immigrants don’t come here looking for handouts. They come with hope, strength and dreams,” said Baltazar-Sabbah. Immigrants come to the United States to work and to raise their families, she said, but are often met with discrimination and injustice. 

“We have a government that not only has renounced this responsibility to help those most in need,” Sabbah said. “We now have a government that actively and deliberately targets the people.” 

Sabbah pointed to efforts by the Trump administration to demand that schools and community organizations fill out loyalty pledges or risk losing funding. “They are destroying our institutions, but they cannot destroy our resolve,” he said. Sabbah also encouraged the crowd to continue to take action and fight for justice. 

“So, let us raise our voices in rage and hope. Let them hear our cries from here to Washington, D.C.,” said Sabbah. “From coast to coast, and around the world, Watsonville is here and ready for the fight.” 

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