More than 500 protest against Trump in ‘Hands Off!’ rally at State College park

The State College area’s opposition to President Donald Trump and his administration is growing louder.

More than 500 people armed with political signs and umbrellas braved a dreary, rainy Saturday to converge on Sidney Friedman Park for a “Hands Off!” rally opposing Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. The event was part of a nationwide effort that saw more than 1,200 similar rallies held across all 50 states. Signs and speakers touched on a variety of topics, from the economy to human rights. 

Nationally, it was the biggest day of demonstrations yet since Trump took office. Locally, the same also held true. (About 350 attended last weekend’s town hall opposing Trump, and 250 gathered two weeks ago in protest of Trump supporter and U.S. Rep Glenn Thompson, R-Howard.)

“I got involved because I believe in this country, and I am firmly against everything that is going on right now,” said local rally speaker Ray Bilger, a combat veteran and former employee of the Department of State’s foreign service and intelligence community. “Only by us standing together and doing things like this today and making our voices heard can we make a change.”

The most-asked question at last week’s town hall revolved around what people could do to help, to stop the administration’s cuts and tariffs, to prevent turning longtime allies into foes. And the response was to stand up and speak out.

That message, reiterated by Bilger on Saturday, appeared to be received.

Local organizers said about 500 people RSVP’d to the event, so attendance was conservatively estimated in the 500-600 range. But some thought attendance might’ve topped 1,000. The park appeared more crowded Saturday, even when the rain picked up and volunteers handed out ponchos, than it is during a weekend at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Nationally, organizations such as MoveOn and Indivisible took the lead on the rallies. But more than 150 partners — from the local to national levels — also contributed. Among the local organizations taking part were Central PA United, Left of Centre, Seven Mountains AFL-CIO and the Centre County Democratic Committee.

Four speakers took turns sharing their stories to the crowd during the hourlong event. They included Suzanne Weinstein, a member of Keystone Indivisible; Connor Lewis, chapter president of Seven Mountains AFL-CIO; Christy Delafield, humanitarian aid worker; and Bilger.

“The line in my lifetime has never been clearer than it is right now,” Lewis said. “You can choose to be on Elon Musk’s side. You can choose to be on the side of billionaires. Or you can choose to be on the side of American workers, of American-working people, a people who believe in this country and that we deserve more.”

Estimates of national attendance were not immediately known. But organizers reported before the event that more than 600,000 had signed up to attend.

Why did you attend?

The Centre Daily Times stopped five attendees at the State College rally to ask one question: Why was it important for you to be at this event? 

Here’s what they said:

Chris Smith, State College resident

“I am really worried for our future, for our children, the environment — and just the health of the whole nation and the security of our nation. There’s so many reasons; it just keeps adding up. I fear for our safety. I feel fear for people getting taken away and deported with no due process. I am scared for research being cut. 

“I had cancer. My mom had cancer. It’s insane that they would cut funding to cancer research, for asthma research, for ALS. It’s just insane. And the amount of time it’ll take to get that re-established? It’s already too late for so many things.”

Maezy Leitzinger, Penn State student

“It’s important to stand up for what we believe in, and we should be fighting against all this. This isn’t right. And that’s pretty much why I showed up, because it matters to me.

“I’m happy that it’s such a huge turnout, but I was a little shocked at the lack of kids more my age — in Gen Z — that didn’t show up. But it’s really powerful seeing the older generations showing up and also caring for what we care about.”

Brant Rosenberger, State College resident

“I’m trying to figure out how to get involved, basically. I’ve lived here for about 20 years, and this is an unprecedented time to live in. So I want to get out there and meet people, see what I can learn and hopefully help them. ...

“I send faxes and I call people. But when you literally have your government not listening to you, you actually have to get up and do something. ... I’m not really super political, but I’m progressive. And at some point you have to get up. At some point, you go, ‘These are the most rights I ever have. I will have less rights after this time.’ It’s not good for anybody.”

Joseph Haloua, State College resident

“Originally, I’m from France. I became a U.S. citizen. And my mom is from Prague, Czechoslovakia, and she’s seen the Russians coming over in 1968 to take over her country. And I have nothing against individual Russians. But the issue is that the United States is just basically handing everything over to a foreign enemy. And that just is alarming at the highest level for me. Where I come from, we’ve been allies forever and, suddenly, we’re treated as enemies. 

“On one hand, we have Elon Musk that’s talking about Western civilization, and on the other hand, they’re actually trying to destroy or dismantle that. And honestly, I, as a business owner, do not understand whatsoever the economic purpose behind that. There is no explanation. It’s just chaos without an explanation.”

Sydney Nicholson, Penn State student

“Trump is taking away women’s rights, and that’s one big thing I’m concerned about. And he’s bowing down to Elon Musk, who wasn’t even elected. Elon Musk is supporting an alt-right nationalist group in Germany ... so the country’s going that way, and it’s just awful. It’s really awful.

“For the queer community as well, you just don’t feel safe. Especially if you’re a person of color, it’s not safe out there for anybody. If you see a person with a MAGA hat, you’re like, ‘F---, stay away from me.’ It’s a spread of hate and violence.” 

This story was originally published April 5, 2025 at 8:48 PM.

Josh Moyer

Centre Daily Times

Josh Moyer earned his B.A. in journalism from Penn State and his M.S. from Columbia. He’s been involved in sports and news writing for more than 20 years. He counts the best athlete he’s ever seen as Tecmo Super Bowl’s Bo Jackson.