Protesters gather in Salt Lake City as part of nationwide movement against Trump

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City's "Hands Off!" protest was one of over 1,200 protests against the Trump administration held across the country on Saturday, including in several other locations in Utah.

Attendees came to the protest from across the state to voice their concerns about issues like protecting Social Security, Health and Human Services cuts, and changes made by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Protest organizers and state police estimated that about 6,000 protesters were at the state Capitol on Saturday afternoon. The protest was organized largely by the political activist groups Indivisible and 50501.

Several protesters also expressed dissatisfaction to the Deseret News over recent Utah legislation, including a new ban on most flags in classrooms.

Among the protesters was state Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Salt Lake City, his wife and their dog, Darwin.

Utah knitters and quilters join protesters

From the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Leigh Weintraub, Marietta Paull and Ruth Markham came to the capitol together as knitters and quilters over "concern for the future of the United States."

Weintraub said she heard about the protest through an email ad and then asked her knitting and quilting friends if they'd like to join.

Weintraub told the Deseret News she's mainly worried about health care issues, including recent cuts made by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS announced a 20,000 full-time employee layoff on March 27.

In a post on the social platform X, Kennedy wrote after the announcement, "What we've been doing isn't working. Despite spending $1.9 trillion in annual costs, Americans are getting sicker every year."

The post added, "These changes will not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or other essential health services."

Markham, who worked with computer systems throughout her career, expressed concern over a claim that DOGE plans to make changes to Social Security.

"Every single day since Jan. 20, it's been nothing but chaos," Markham said. "Every single day, there's something new, five things new, 10 things new, we're all up in arms, but how can you be up in arms about everything at once? We have no idea what's going on."

Attendee talks about families broken up by politics

Holding a sign saying, "Booker For President," Candace Peterson told the Deseret News she heard about the protest from friends and saw it on social media.

She expressed concern over how Congress and President Donald Trump's Cabinet have supported him.

"How else could you explain this kind of complete disregard for the Constitution, people's rights, free speech and deporting people who have every right to be here?" Peterson asked.

Peterson also brought up her career as a psychotherapist. Since Trump took office in January, she said, "I have a lot of clients who are really upset."

"There are a lot of families that are broken up by this. It's over the top," she said.

Several protesters worried about Social Security

California-to-Utah transplants Michael Schlager and Steven Moser stood on the outer edges of the Capitol lawn, holding an upside down American flag and another with the words, "Make America Kind Again."

While Elon Musk has said, "there are no cuts to Medicaid, Social Security or other entitlements," Moser told the Deseret News his biggest concern is DOGE cutting the Social Security benefits he relies on.

"I rely on my Social Security, and I don't know from month to month now," he said. "I feel like I'm living in uncertainty."

Moser said he scheduled an appointment at a Social Security office in Utah two days ago to both get another Social Security card and get answers to some of his questions. However, he said he still feels in the dark about it. "It's not the Social Security worker's fault, you know, so I feel bad for them ... they don't know what's going on; they're short-staffed."

Commenting on his upside down flag, Moser said, "I hate to have to put it like this, but I feel we are in distress." Schlager added, "We look forward to turning this right around.

The event largely lacked counter-protesters, but there were a few people on hand who were there to express disagreement with the protest.

With an American flag in hand, Chris Thomas from Springville told the Deseret News he believes many of the issues being protested come from "huge misinformation about a lot of stuff."

Thomas said he came to the Capitol on Saturday "because I'm a patriot," he said. "I don't like what's going on with everybody against each other. We all need to work together, but we need to educate ourselves with really what's going on."

"Trump and Elon are actually saving the taxpayers a ton of money right now," Thomas continued. "They're finding all kinds of stuff that was misused, and I see signs out here that say, 'Keep your hands off my Social Security,' but if you think about it, the money they've found, it's going to go back into Social Security, and it's going to help people out."

Political fear tactics "shouldn't happen at all," Thomas said.

Large protests were also held Saturday in cities like Boston, Chicago, Denver and Washington D.C. The Associated Press said Saturday evening that the protests were largely peaceful and that no arrests had been reported.

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