Protests against the Trump administration, Project 2025, Elon Musk and Trump’s recent executive orders took place throughout the country on Wednesday as part of an opposition movement that initially spread on social media. The movement known under hashtags like #50501 and #buildtheresistance encouraged protesters to gather at all 50 state capitol buildings around the nation to fight back against recent executive initiatives by President Trump. From Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Minnesota and beyond, activists gathered to deliver a protest message to President Trump and his array of second-term initiatives. The turnout for the Austin demonstration was in the hundreds. DPS officials estimated that at its peak, the crowd size reached 500.
In Austin, the protest was planned to take place from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. on the Capitol grounds. The crowd was sparse at first, but began to grow as the day continued. By 1 p.m. it had grown noticeably larger. Protesters gathered on the steps of the Capitol building with the leaders of the Austin section of the #50501 movement leading speakers that shared their stories of how President Trump’s legislation and executive orders negatively affected them. The stories included testimony of how ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) now may have the ability to pull immigrants from the lives they’ve built for themselves and stories of the infringement of women’s rights. A key theme of the national protest movement was to resist Project 2025, a hard right policymaking handbook, but the message of the protest also included a rebuke of the Trump administration and criticism of the power the Trump administration has granted billionaire Elon Musk.
Given the online origins of the protest, the authorities also knew about the demonstration and were therefore noticeably present at the Capitol. Standing around the edges of the crowd, they watched over the peaceful protests and never intervened. Volunteer medics were on the edges of the crowd in bright pink shirts with the word medic plastered on the back. As the protest grew, the leaders announced that they would continue to protest as they marched down Congress Avenue. Authorities moved to block off traffic. The leaders spoke into their microphones.
“We’re going to move to Congress (Avenue),” one speaker said to the crowd. “We’re ready to be detained for being in the streets, but these are our rights we’re fighting for. If you don’t want to be arrested, stay on the sidewalks,” the speaker said.
As the protest moved onto Congress Avenue, a sea of signs became visible with phrases that included “Seeking safety is not a crime,” “Greg Abbott is a DEI hire,” “We the people reject Project 2025,” “Women’s rights are human rights,” and “No one is illegal on stolen land.” People working downtown came out onto the balconies of their office buildings to watch the protest. Some of them cheered on the movement.
One spectator that came out of her building after hearing the protest from inside was Jennifer Husted. Husted felt proud of her city when she saw the protesters.
“Seeing the protest made me feel proud that Austin is still Austin, and that people feel comfortable to fight for what they believe in,” Husted said. “It gives me hope.”
As the protest proceeded from Congress Avenue, to Sixth Street and on to Lavaca. The protesters chanted “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like!”
The #50501 protest moved back up towards the Capitol, and as it did, the demonstrators continued to chant slogans. Although the Austin Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety were set up along the protest route to prevent oncoming traffic, the demonstrators marched through parked traffic. A cacophony of honks of support came from the stopped traffic.
After marching back up Congress, similar to how the demonstration began, people gathered on the Capitol steps and seeped into the grass around the edges. Many protesters sat in chairs holding signs depicting their views and protest. One protester who identified herself as Denise without offering her last name sat in a folding chair and held a sign that said, “Abbott was a DEI hire.”
Denise said she came to the protest because, to them, it felt like the best way to fight against President Trump at this time in his administration.
“We want Trump out, but we don’t really have a reason to get him out yet, so it’s kind of tough,” Denise said. “I know we don’t have anything yet to impeach him, so it’s kind of tough.”
It made Denise feel positive to see so many people out and protesting for their cause.
“It’s like a big mix of hodgepodge people out here which is cool,” Denise said. “I mean, there’s people of all kinds of walks of life here, which is pretty cool. Even people who are disabled or walking with us, which is really cool.”
The speakers and leaders of the protest continued to vocalize their opinions throughout the rest of the afternoon through megaphones. The turnout of the protest was successful to the leaders, and they announced that another protest would take place on Feb. 28.
