On Saturday, Hands Off! held over 1,300 events to protest the Trump administration, with over 600,000 demonstrators across the country registered to participate. In Knox County, students and faculty alike assembled alongside local residents — an estimated 275 in total — in the Mount Vernon Public Square to protest issues ranging from veteran affairs to the war in Gaza.

The “Hands Off!” protests are the largest nationwide show of opposition to the current administration since Trump took office in January. According to the Hands Off! website, the appeal of the protest was the breadth of issues represented. The organizing website cited attacks on Social Security, Medicare, veterans, immigrants and transgender people as motivation to protest. Though there were a variety of issues addressed, the protesters all had one cause in common: for the administration to keep their “Hands Off!”

On the Hill, Professor of Biology Joan Slonczewski sent an all-student email on March 31 inviting students to join Saturday’s regular Signs on the Square protest collaboration with Hands Off!. Three days later, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Asian Studies Michelle Mood sent another all-student email, encouraging students who were free on Saturday to attend the event.

The Mount Vernon protest amassed nearly 300 participants, according to a Knox County Democratic Party Facebook post, significantly more than Signs on the Square’s typical attendance of a couple dozen or fewer. The protesters wrapped around the square, hoisting signs addressing a variety of topics.

“I personally held a sign protesting the idea that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, which is what Elon Musk has called it,” Mood wrote in an email to the Collegian. “I looked up the money paid into my and my husband’s Social Security over the decades and put that number up on the sign so people could see we are due that money — we and our employers over the decades gave that money up to the government, and we are owed support in retirement due to that.”

Many protesters cited Elon Musk and the increasingly unchecked power of the executive branch as the center of the Mount Vernon protesters’ grievances. Several protesters carried signs brandishing slogans like, “Stop Musk robbing our Soc Sec,” “We don’t want a king,” “No! Government of the Billionaires by the Billionaires for the Billionaires” and similar sentiments. Maya Ferguson ’27 led students in the chant “O-H-I-O, Trump and Musk have got to go!”

Beyond Musk-specific sentiments, there was a wide array of other issues addressed by the picketers. Social causes and fear for democracy appeared to be common themes for students’ signs, while other protesters’ signs skewed more toward concern over Social Security and Medicare. “It was actually pretty awesome that there [were] a lot of older people because, ‘Oh, you know, protesting is a younger person thing,’ but no, this matters to everybody,” Ferguson said in an interview with the Collegian.

While there was no official counter-protest, attendees stated that drivers occasionally yelled or gestured at the protesters. “We got flipped off by a few cars passing us, but for the most part passersby honked their horns and rolled their windows down in solidarity,” Healey Kohn ’27 wrote in a message to the Collegian. 

“One [driver] yelled that there should be another Kent State, where Kent State students were killed by the National Guard. But others supported us wildly, honking and cheering,” Mood said. “One older man in a pickup drove around at least six times honking nonstop and smiling.”

Despite Saturday’s overcast weather, many felt that the event induced a strong sense of camaraderie among demonstrators.“It was not the most beautiful day — it was drizzling on and off,” Ferguson said. “But everyone seemed really committed to be there together.”

“It was loud and angry but full of a great sense of community,” Kohn said. “Young and old people all came together to protect freedom and democracy.”

News assistant Daisy Newbury ’27 contributed to reporting.