SNOHOMISH COUNTY—A plethora of anti-Trump resistance groups are rising across the country with many upcoming events planned across Snohomish County.
On Saturday, April 5, millions of people attended the, more than, 1,600 Hands Off demonstrations across all 50 states, congregating at government buildings and parks with three demands: “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.”
Hands Off is a nonpartisan, decentralized, organization calling attention to the “attacks” on local communities and federal cuts that are “causing chaos, fear, and negative impacts,” said Paula Townsell, Co-Lead and Event Organizer of Snohomish County’s chapter.
“This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way,” the Hands Off website states. “They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam. They’re handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich…If we don’t fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.”
According to Paula Townsell, the event was the largest political rally in the history of Everett and Snohomish County at large with an estimated attendance of 3,500 people.
The Hands Off movement will be congregating again on April 19 in Lynnwood, hosted by South County Indivisible, on the corner of Highway 99 and 196th Street from 10 a.m. until noon, and in Everett along Broadway that same day.
The movement said the mass mobilization day is a message to the world that its members do not consent to the “destruction of the government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies.”
The event will run alongside others similar across the country where participants will march, rally, and protest to build an opposition movement.
Hands Off and Snohomish County Indivisible stressed that these gatherings are non-violent in nature, which is a core value of the movement, and encouraged proper de-escalation tactics if conflicts arise. There were no incidents of property damage or violence reported at last Saturday’s protest.
Townsell approached the Everett City Council on Wednesday, April 9, expressing that local Hands Off attendance has “outgrown the space at the County Campus” and requested a permit to congregate along Everett’s Broadway for the upcoming April 19 demonstration.
“As a local resident when I think of ‘main street America’ and I think of Everett I think of Broadway,” said Townsell. “We plan to span, and invite the community members to join us, spreading out all along main street Everett which we’ll call Broadway.”
Townsell added that holding the rally on Broadway is also symbolic given the route passes by many institutions which are directly impacted by Trump’s spending cuts; from universities to the Department of Health Services, the Social Security Administration, and local businesses.
The route will span three miles from the 41st Street overpass to Marine Drive on Broadway Avenue. Townsell submitted a permit application Wednesday to have access to the street, with sign wavers standing on either side of the street.
Separate to these Saturday rallies, Snohomish County Indivisible are also hosting “Opposing Oligarchy” sign waving events every Friday at various locations including the Lynnwood Convention Center, the Everett Social Security Office, Marysville 88th Street Overpass, and in Mill Creek on the corner of 188th Street and Bothel-Everett Highway, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) has been hosting resistance events of her own which she is calling “Resistance Labs,” held virtually every Sunday.
Rep. Jayapal held the first of these events last Sunday, April 6, where she kickstarted a long series of “Organizational Training.” Her next scheduled training session will be on May 4, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A virtual “Resistance Lab” event is scheduled for Sunday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
These Resistance Labs were developed by experts who have researched and studied democratic backsliding across the world as well as in the United States, Rep. Jayapal said, with an emphasis on non-violent movements that have emerged to challenge authoritarian leaders.
The training sessions will draw from many toolkits for effective tactics and frameworks, as well as from Rep. Jayapal’s own background leading organizing movements for economic and social justice for the last two decades.
“Our goals are to help people understand how democracies fall and the most effective resistance movements that have challenged authoritarians and dictators; to turn anger, fear and frustration into action in the short-term while also preparing for a coordinated resistance movement for the longer term; and to build community across the country that can help grow our movement,” said Jayapal. “At the end of the day, we want to get people strike-ready and street-ready and make sure we protect our people, our freedoms and our democracy.”
This Saturday, April 12, another Tesla Takedown demonstration at the Tesla Lynnwood store located at 17731 Pacific Highway from 12:00 p.m. until 2 p.m.
The goal is to protest against Elon Musk for his role in government affairs and being granted special clearances.
This is the same Lynnwood Tesla location where a total of six Cyber Trucks were vandalized on Saturday, March 8, with swastikas and explicit language.
However, the Tesla Takedown rejects any involvement in these vandalizations and continue to promote non-violence and condemns the destruction of private property.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
2 Responses
Lornn Knaus
About two dozen folks assembled at 5 pm Friday on the 88th St. overpass for I-5 in Marysville. There were two US flags (one flown upside down), a US/rainbow flag, and quite a few handmade signs. The event lasted until a bit after 6 pm, when the wind was increasing and the traffic was decreasing.
The crowd was located on a sidewalk at the north edge of the overpass, making it easily visible to folks driving past on 88th St. The signs were not visible to the northbound traffic on I-5, but the US/rainbow flag could be seen from a couple hundred yards down the highway. Dozens of passing drivers honked their horns in support of the event; a few (unintelligible) catcalls were also heard.