'Hands Off!': Crowds Attend LI Demonstrations Against Trump, Musk

GREENPORT, NY — Pouring rain and chilly temperatures didn't stop hundreds from gathering in Mitchell Park in Greenport Saturday, carrying signs, stamping their feet and cheering as they galvanized to send a strong message to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk: "Hands Off!"

According to the Associated Press, more than 1,200 “Hands Off!” demonstrations were organized in all 50 states across American by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, LBGTQ+ advocates, labor representatives, veterans and others.

On Long Island, demonstrations were held in a number of locations including Greenport, Riverhead, East Hampton and Mineola.

Carrying signs that read "Hands Off My Social Security," "Rejecting Kings Since 1776", "MAGA = Anarchy, "Stop Putin's Pals," "Stop Facism," "Families Belong Together," "Hands Off Free Speech," "Resist," "Liberate Us From DOGE," "Stop Trump," and more, groups nationwide gathered to protest government cuts, the economy and tariffs, human rights issues, and what many said was a threat to democracy.

North Fork event organizer Sarah Burnes thanked the groups who rallied, including the Southold and Suffolk County Dems, the Mudflats, the North Fork Action Center, Carolyn Peabody, Lynn Summers and Tammy Loeffler, as well as the crowd that turned out in support.

"It literally takes a village," Burnes said. "As of yesterday, we were one of 1,200 rallies with over 600,000 signed up" across the nation.

"We are the people and this is our government," Burns said. "This is a people's protest." She then read the opening of the Declaration of Independence.

"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," Burnes read. "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter it. The history of the present POTUS and his henchmen is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states."

But, Burnes said: "We are the people and this is our government — and we need to speak up not just in opposition to the tyrant, but about what our values are."

Those values, she said, include "each other; science and our planet; healthcare for all; our elders; our children and our teachers; our arts and the artists who make it; our libraries and museums; our international allies; our workers; the rule of law; the truth — our democracy."

The crowd cheered.

Next, elected officials spoke. Southold Town Councilman Brian Mealy, who is running to retain his seat this year, spoke with emotion — at one point, tearing up.

Greenport, he said, is a diverse community. "This is our beloved community." He said that he and the other elected officials "are trying to do the best they can in this unfortunate, sad, disgusting, unholy, ungodly times. We are not giving up. Because you guys are inspiring us to do the best that we can."

He added: "Thank you for reminding of what my duty is to represent you properly and to do the exact opposite of what the crazy people are doing on the national level; they are not representing us. I pray daily, 'God, give me the thought and the wisdom to represent people properly. Help me not to be a cruel Pharisee and a cruel person, stepping on people to try to gain power.' I try to be compassionate and loving. That's disconnected from the people who are trying to do the things they are doing. And we are not going to let them do the things they are doing. We are going to say 'no.' I just want to say a declarative statement: 'Hands off everything!'"

Locally, he said, if federal cuts are passed down, the community has to step in and close the gap; for example, helping to provide for the needy. "Are you ready for that challenge?" he asked as the crowd cheered, "yes!"

Mealy also discussed cuts to library funding. "I'm a mild-mannered library worker. I'm mad as hell that library funding has been cut." He said to counter the cuts, he would redouble his efforts to help those who come through the library doors, including those who need help with drug addiction or who have nowhere to go. "They're cutting the resources that are enabling us to help the people that are walking through the door. That's wrong! And we're not going to put up with it anymore. Hands off the library! Who could attack a library that serves the community?"

Greenport, he said, is one of the most diverse, "beautiful, kind and welcoming" communities. "That's your superpower. We need kindness more than ever now. That's how we're going to defeat this foolishness, by being kind." As an elected official, he pledged to "stand for the things that are being taken away. Say something about it. You're not going to underfund the state, the town government. We have to call it out when we see that. Who's going to miss out? It usually is the person that has the least of all of us. The families that need meals, aren't going to get meals. The people who need clothes, aren't going to get clothes. And the people that don't have immigration status are going to be taken away."

His voice filled with tears, Mealy said: "I'm sorry, I'm standing in the way. If someone tries to take my neighbor away, they're going to have to take me away."

Women's rights, he said, are human rights. He urged the crowd to register to vote at the tables set up outside.

Southold Town Councilman Greg Doroski, who is running for a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature, noted the great turnout; he said there was an equally good turnout at the "Hands Off" event in Riverhead earlier in the day. "People are fired up."

Doroski said he is one of the many families on Long Island struggling to raise his family there. "It's hard," he said. "As we look at these tariffs, this is the largest tax increase in U.S. history. I don't know about you, but I don't have another $4,000 or $5,000 to spend on essentials. This is the country I love, that you love, that we will fight for."

He added: "Musk and Trump and the whole crew is framing this as an effort at efficiency. Do not be fooled. Look at what they are cutting, vital services to our community. When you look at Medicaid, 20 percent of our population is on Medicaid; they rely on that for their healthcare, and they're looking at cutting that. For what? A $1.5 trillion tax cut to the rich."

The crowd booed.

"And this is right in the midst of an unprecedented transfer of wealth. $50 trillion over the past 50 years from the bottom 90 percent up," Doroski continued. "Currently, three people have more wealth than the bottom 50 percent. And we're looking at more tax cuts for the wealthy? That is not what we need."

Doroski said cuts are happening at the local level; the Suffolk County Legislature, he said, "just cut over $100,000 of youth programming. One of those organizations is the Butterfly Effect Project in Riverhead — right at the same time that they are facing unprecedented racist, hateful attacks."

He added, "We will not stand for this." Doroski pointed to cuts to Long Island Cares, which feeds the needy. "It goes on and on. But I'm hopeful. Look around. In the rain, in the cold we are standing here, saying that we will not stand for this. This is not who we are as a country. And we will not stand for this."

Pediatrician Alan Shapiro spoke about the dire need to vaccinate children against measles, which is again an issue across the country.

Ordained Baptist minister Margaret Cowden of Greenport also spoke. "Such injuring practices, carried out by my government. As a citizen, not in my name, and as a Christian, not in the name of my God!"

She added: "Today is Day 76 of Trump's second term. It feels like we've been drinking from a fire hose. Unfortunately, too many of us suffered from a failure of imagination, regarding Project 2025. We simply could not imagine that this administration would be poised to wreak such damage in so little time. But this is where we find ourselves, now, and we gather today, to try to find our way forward. Given the barrage of assault we've experienced in just over two months, it would be easy to become hopeless and paralyze to act. But we must do all that we can to help each other out of that stunned silence. No one of us can do it all — but every one of us can do something."

New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni also spoke, calling upon Rep. Nick LaLota. "I have a message for our congressman: We are asking our congressman to uphold the tenets of the U.S. Constitution. Article 1 maintains that he should check the Executive. So, Mr. LaLota, do your job and stop this President. It is the least he can do. When he took his oath, it said that he should defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. We are asking him to stand up to Donald Trump."

Cheering, the crowd chanted, "Do your job!"

Schiavoni added: "Nobody is going to come and save us from this situation but us."

"We will!" the crowd yelled.

Schiavoni said the times are scary. "One of the last stages of authoritarian rule is when the legislature cedes their responsibility. That's why he's got to stand up, and work in our interests."

The crowd then marched along Front Street in Greenport, chanting, "The people, united, will never be defeated."