Pasadenans Join National ‘Hands Off’ Protests

As part of a nationwide series of demonstrations called “Hands Off,” hundreds marched from Pasadena Avenue in Old Pasadena to Los Robles Avenue Saturday afternoon, protesting against the Trump administration.

The loud but peaceful protesters lined both sides of the street from the Tesla dealership in Old Pasadena to blocks past The Paseo to the east, a distance of about one-half mile, as they chanted slogans and held up signs, as motorists honked in support.

Pasadena police said there were no incidents during the event and described the crowd as large but “mild.”

Among the protesters were Pasadena City Councilmember Rick Cole, Pasadena City College Trustee Tammy Silver, and U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu.

Said Chu, standing on the crowded sidewalks near the Tesla dealership, “I’m here to join the protest against Trump and Elon Musk, and it is amazing. I have never seen Colorado Boulevard so crowded, for blocks and blocks. There  must be thousands and thousands of people here.”

Chu added, “I want people to know that we can fight these horrendous things that Trump and Musk are doing to our democracy. We know that they are trying to dismantle our Federal government. Trump is trying to be the bully of the world, putting tariffs on every country, and he is trying to give $4.5 trillion in tax giveaways to billionaires, and the only way he can do it is by devastating our health care.”

Also concerned about the possible threat to US health care was Cynthia Mazza, who joined the protest from Burbank, and whose sister suffers from multiple sclerosis.

”My family is directly affected,” she said, “because of the financial impact it will have on us, and the potential that my sister will not be able to get the health care that she needs to cope with this disease that she is experiencing.

“But it goes beyond that,” said Mazza, “because in America, the health care system is, in fact, broken, …and instead of moving forward and fixing it, which is what I am advocating, we’re actually moving backwards.”

Reacting to the worldwide tariffs that Trump recently ordered, longtime Pasadena activist Ed Washatka said, “In a few months, instead of a shopping cart filled with groceries, (people) are going to need a shopping cart full of money to pay for the groceries.”

In downtown Los Angeles, demonstrators carried a 20-foot-tall balloon of the image of President Donald Trump wearing a diaper and a 15-foot-tall helium-filled balloon representing Trump wearing a Russian military uniform during a march along a nearly milelong stretch of sidewalks and streets, that began with a rally at Pershing Square at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Thousands of people filled Pershing Square as Alan Vargas of California Young Democrats told the crowd “When we come together, the rich sweat,” adding “Be loud. Be noisy. Be disruptive.”

Among the signs carried by demonstrators: “Eggs are too expensive. Eat the rich,” “It’s not left vs right. It’s the oligarchy vs all of us,” and “Trump is Tarifying.”

Los Angeles County Republican Party Chairman Roxanne Hoge said such demonstrations will have no effect on the Trump administration.

“Radical leftists are protesting President Donald Trump with marches and a parade balloon?” she told City News Service. “Their boring, predictable tantrums are now part of the L.A. landscape, much like the dilapidated RVs and dangerous encampments that their policies result in. We are interested in good governance and public safety, and wish our Democrat friends would join us in advocating for both.”

Speakers expected at Saturday’s City Hall rally included actress Jodie Sweetin and comedian Francesa Fiorentini.

“We’re barely two months into Trump’s chaos and the country is reeling from his reckless firing of millions of workers, the breaking up of tens of thousands of families and plans to gut funding to our health care and Social Security,” organizer Emily Williams said.

“It doesn’t matter what your political party is, nearly everyone is being harmed by these punishing decisions and we’re here to oppose the destruction of these programs that millions of Americans rely on every day.”

At least 100 protests and marches were planned throughout the region Saturday, including events in Glendale, Riverside and Santa Ana. Organizations believed to be represented included ACLU, 50501 SoCal, Greenpeace, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Working Families Power, according to the Hands Off! website.

Trump has yet to comment on what organizers called a “mass mobilization day,” but the White House rescheduled one of its annual spring garden tour dates due to the large anti-Trump demonstration expected to take place near 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“Anyone who thinks protests, lawsuits and lawfare will deter President Trump must have been sleeping under a rock for the past several years,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to USA Saturday. “President Trump will not be deterred from delivering on the promises he made to make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers across the country who overwhelmingly re-elected him.”