Bainbridge Islanders Organizing to Protest Against the Policies of President Trump and Elon Musk on Saturday April 5 in Downtown Winslow

Local organizers are rallying Bainbridge Island residents to take to the streets as part of a nationwide protest on April 5 in the largest single day of action since President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term on Jan 20. Participants will gather at Waypoint Park at Highway 305 and Winslow Way at noon and march to nearby Waterfront Park “to declare “Hands Off” to Trump and Musk.”

Rally participants “will call on Trump and Elon Musk to take their hands off the programs that the middle class and working families rely on” at the April 5 event. There are 500 to 600 similar protests – including one in Seattle, and even one in London, England – happening across the country on the same day.

“With Trump and congressional Republicans doubling down on their agenda to gut essential services, everyday Bainbridge Island residents are sending a clear message: Take your hands off our healthcare, our Social Security, our civil rights, our emergency management, our democracy, our climate, our freedom, and our education,” organizers said in a statement sent to The Island Wanderer. The rally at Waypoint will be followed by a march “to underscore the real-life consequences of these policies and show how our communities are fighting back,” organizers explained.

The march will conclude with speeches and testimonials about the “damage being done by Project 2025,” and music at Waterfront Park.

“We are hoping to build the movement on Bainbridge Island against authoritarianism and fascism,” said Claire Richards, a scientist and professor of nursing at Washington State University, who lives on the island. Richards will speak on personnel and program cuts being made at the National Institutes of Health, as well as “attacks on science. … There will be a range of people talking about different issues, (such as) attacks on agencies and services to people (citizens). It’s a very big tent.”

Richards, one of a number of the local organizers of Saturday’s event, said one of the topics likely to be discussed is tech billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts. “There’s a lack of transparency when things are being cut,” she said. “Where is the money going?” There also is a potential, “conflict of interest with much of his own (government) contracts” through SpaceX and other entities.

While Richards acknowledged that there are “not so many (federal) government employees” on Bainbridge – “there’s more in Bremerton” – there are many islanders on “Social Security and Medicare” that might feel threatened by what is transpiring in Washington D.C. There are “multiple dimensions to the movement,” Richards added. “We want people to use their own voices. Collectively our own voices are more powerful.”

In her mind, Richards said the Democratic Party “is playing softball when it should be playing hardball. … They are living on a different planet.” Moreover, she said deportations, student arrests and harassment “without due process … is not good.” … People don’t understand what is going on. … It’s a fascist demolition of government. The largest amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.”

A full list of national partner organizations and events slated for April 5th can be found here. According to Richards and a release sent to The Island Wanderer, the rally and Hands Off! events are “nonviolent,” with the caveat that “all hosts and participants are expected to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with their values.”

WHAT: “Hands Off!”

WHO: Bainbridge Island Residents

Speakers include: Rakesh Bharania (USAID), Gina Corpuz (Indipino Community of Bainbridge Island), Speaker from the BI Japanese American Community, Jerry Hebert (Secretary of the LD 23 Democrats), Mike Cox (Cedars UU), Claire Richards (Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility); additional speakers might be added.

WHERE: Hwy 305 and Winslow Way with a march to Waterfront Park

WHEN: Rally begins at Hwy 305 and Winslow Way at 12 pm, March to Waterfront Park with Speakers at 1 pm. Register for the event at: https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/event/764627/

Editor’s Note: Information provided by the group Indivisible Bainbridge, and Claire Richards, via an interview. The Island Wanderer is neither supporting nor endorsing the objectives of the April 5 rally. We are merely reporting that it is happening.  

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