The group organized several nationwide demonstrations starting on February 5, 2025, with anti-Trump rallies.[6][7] The group hosted another nationwide protest—named "No Kings on Presidents Day"—on February 17 (Presidents' Day),[8] and a third demonstration on March 4, 2025.[9][10] The movement's membership contributed to the organizing of the April 5, 2025, Hands Off protests, which gathered millions of participants nationwide and was among the largest protests against U.S. president Donald Trump.[11]"No Kings" protests took place across the USA (but avoided Washington, D.C.)[12] on June14, 2025,[13][14] the day of the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade and Donald Trump's 79th birthday.[15] These events, in over 2,000 locations and attended by an estimated 5 million people,[16][17][18] represent the largest one-day protest in US history.[19] The movement continues to hold demonstrations nationwide and is active online, locally, and nationally.
Background
Discussions of a nationwide protest started circulating on social media in late 2024. According to organizer Kay Evert, the movement started on Reddit, with activist organizations eventually joining in.[20] The movement says it was organized by grassroots activists and spread through social media.[21] The movement used the hashtags "#buildtheresistance" and "#50501", with the latter standing for "50 protests, 50 states, one day".[22] Protestors also expressed dismay about the role of Elon Musk and his actions in the federal system.[23] One protester stated "I'm here because Elon Musk is where he's not supposed to be. He is in our pocketbooks", as well as concerns about accessing confidential and personal data, lack of legal jurisdiction, and the unelected status of Musk.[23]
Signs included commentary about Musk,[24] and a spokesperson for the group emphasized that Musk is a target of the protest, stating "We are still very much calling for the removal of Elon Musk. We find it very concerning that there is a non-government official that has the access that he does", as well as the desire for stronger anti-discrimination policies.[1]
50501 protest at the Ohio Statehouse in February 2025
The idea for 50501 started as a Reddit post by user Evolved_Fungi in late January, quickly gaining traction on social media. 50501's first protest occurred on February 5, 2025.[1] 50501's name was originally an abbreviation of "50 protests, 50 states, one day" symbolizing the goal for a single day of action. The organization claimed there to be 72,000 protesters at 67 protests across 40 states.[20] 50501's second protest happened on February 17, being called “Not my Presidents Day”.[8] In early February, they officially partnered with Political Revolution,[25] a group initially created to support Bernie Sanders's 2016 political bid[26] (not Our Revolution, the political action organization founded as a continuation of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign[27]). Political Revolution put up a live list[28][29] and map of protests hosted by the 50501 movement shortly afterward.[citation needed] K Starling, of We (the People) Dissent collected protests from four sites onto one list and an interactive map, for March 22–28, 2025 and April 5, 2025.[citation needed]
The Hands Off protests were hosted in 1,200 locations, including state capitals, major cities, and towns across the U.S.[9][10][30] It has been estimated that more than 5.2 million Americans came out across the country on April 5.[31] The movement announced that the next protests would take place on April 19 and that the protests would aim to involve 11 million people, roughly 3.5% of the population of the United States.[30]
50501 remains active, hosting rallies, protests, and retaining a social media presence. Individual chapters communicate online and continue to organize "national days of action".
Reactions
When asked about the protest, president of the Utah State SenateStuart Adams said, "I think people are a little frustrated, but I also think President Trump's moving forward, and it's not going to be business as usual. And I think some of it's actually refreshing that we've got a president who will hit issues head on, deal with them and try to try to get things changed . . . I think we need to give him some time to see the results of his action. I think to actually criticize something before the policies actually have a chance to have the effect that they're trying to achieve, I think is probably premature."[32]
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster commented: "I don’t know what happened in other states, but I mean they were protesting, they were well-behaved. That’s how you do it."[33]
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