Woodward said several people who moved to Seattle from other states approached the Traction booth that day with excitement about the organization's work, and that he tried to recruit them. Woodward said Traction welcomes collaboration from other Queer and cis-organizations who are allies.

A total of 21 people were signed up to speak–with Hamdi Mohamed, Seattle's Port Commissioner, being the only representative of the city to speak.

Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck was present at the event. Kaiden Cook, Rinck's campaign manager, told the SGN they reached out to the organizers several weeks to inquire about a speaking opportunity, but that the slots were filled up.

"The message we heard back was the lineup was finalized and it's kind of too late to squeeze us in. We also weren't notified of the rally before it became public. Alexis really wanted to speak if possible," Cook said.

Mohamed, the first Black woman elected to the Port of Seattle Commission, came to the U.S. as a three-year-old refugee from Somalia. She said when she sees these attacks on healthcare, education, and immigrants, that she feels it deeply.

"These attacks are personal for us. We will fight back because when working families are under attack, that means our democracy is under attack," Mohamed said.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-7) kicked off her speech with crowd-inclusive chants:

"Now when Elon Musk and Donald Trump come for our social security, we say 'HANDS-OFF!

When Elon Musk and Donald Trump come for our immigrant community, we say 'HANDS-OFF!'"

Rep. Jayapal said the rally was a beautiful action to take back the US and to show Trump and Musk–and those who seem unable to resist them–that the people are prepared and ready to fight back against unelected billionaires.

"We will fight back against DOGE, which I call the 'Department of Greed and Ego'," Jayapal said. "We are here to say we refuse to allow them to strip our fundamental freedoms of speech and dissent, to terrorize college campuses and law firms, and journalists and media outlets, and civil servants and institutions–we refuse to allow them to raid, kidnap, and disappear our immigrant neighbors."

Rep. Jayapal, an immigrant herself, said without immigrants, the U.S. economy and hearts of Americans become broken. She said the administration is distracting the people from tax cuts to billionaires and overtaking power, but she wanted to make one thing clear:

"Trans kids didn't [hike] your rent, billionaires did! Immigrants did not make your groceries more expensive, billionaires did!" which brought cheers and applause.

Before exiting the stage, she told the crowd to become "democracy first responders," and to show "that our coordinated resistance is stronger than their hate. Let's show that our love is greater than their greed and that our coordinated power will eclipse their cruelty!"

Charles Douglass III is the executive director of Common Power, which works to foster a just and inclusive democracy by investing in the next generation of leaders. Douglass noted how other communities, particularly in red and purple states, do not have the same amount of power as those in Washington or Seattle.

"We sent 100 volunteers to go help Susan Crawford get elected," Douglass said as he held up a Susan Crawford sign after her victorious win on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, against a candidate whom Elon Musk spent millions to sway the election in favor of the pro-Trump candidate.

President Justin Gill of the Washington State Nurses Association said nurses and healthcare workers pick up the pieces of bad policy decisions, like funding cuts and loss of coverage, which will lead to the loss of lives. Gill said when we reflect 10-20 years down the road, history and the next generation will ask us what we did during this time. He asked the crowd if they answered the call to rise up or if they stayed quiet. The crowd shouted, "Rise up!"

"Our voices are stronger than ever together, and our light shines brighter when we join in together," Gill said. "Nurses have and always will have your backs. Now we ask you to have our back in pushing back and resoundingly saying, 'HANDS-OFF!'"

The Seattle Center was awash with anti-Musk signs and posters, some of which portrayed Musk's Nazi salute on Inauguration Day or read, "Deport Musk Not Elmo."

Tesla stock continues to plummet, and protests against the company are taking place weekly in Seattle thanks to Devin Hermanson, who leads the Seattle Area Tesla Takedown Group and who recently launched DefundMusk.com.

"Any day that's bad for Elon Musk is a good day for us," Hermanson said. "This year, 2025, will go down in the history books as the year thousands of ordinary Americans–maybe slightly above average–protestors, unpaid, peaceful, brought down the richest man in the world."

Hermanson said the Defund Musk movement is already seeing success, with the best indication being Musk crying on national television about his company. He said Musk is spreading lies, slander, and intimidation.

"Are we going to be bullied?" he asked. The crowd shouted, "HELLO NO!"
"Are we going to be bamboozled?" he asked. Again, the crowd shouted, "HELL NO!"
"Are we gonna back down?" he asked, and the crowd yelled, "HELL NO!"

Riall Johnson, a former Canadian football player and principal partner at Prism West, stepped up to the podium and said that the people must follow through on their demands to Trump. He noted how Democrats were elected under the promise of taxing the rich and reforming policing, but that they have yet to follow through on their promises.

"We got Biden elected, and he did not revert the Trump tax cuts for the rich. He deported more people than Trump. He funded genocide," Johnson said as the crowd booed.

Johnson said that the absence of City leaders at the event was notable.

"Our mayor is not here. Our city attorney isn't here...our city council's not here," Johnson said. "When you talk to progressives–-people that didn't turn out–and they say, 'What's the point of voting?,' I hope you understand where they're coming from, because it's a lot of people on the bottom that don't see the point, because they're being treated the same by democrats when they're in office [as] republications."

Johnson expressed how his heart was full from seeing the large crowd turn-out, just like in 2017, 2020, and 2021.

"During that time we elected a democratic mayor here that's doing exactly what Trump wants. He's a corporate puppet–I mean, he probably would've come here but it's a little hard to get over from Bellevue," Johnson said, evoking laughter.

Johnson called out Republican City Attorney Ann Davidson, and said the Seattle City Council is doing exactly what Trump and his corporate backers are doing: "Praising Elon Musk, not criticizing."

The SGN reached out to all members of the city council and Mayor Bruce Harrell to uncover their whereabouts on April 5. Councilmember Mark Solomon was out of town for a preplanned family affair, and Councilmember Dan Strauss was also out of town, according to their assistants.

Brad Harwood, communications director for the Seattle City Council, told the SGN that Councilmember Cathy Moore also had a prescheduled trip to care for a family member and could not attend, but that she remains extremely concerned about Trump's actions that are directly harming Seattle residents.

"Last month, Councilmember Moore co-sponsored the city's adoption of the state Shield Law to strengthen protections from harmful federal actions, specifically for people seeking reproductive health care and gender-affirming treatment," Harwood said. "She also serves as vice chair of the City Council's Select Committee on Federal Administration and Policy Changes which is closely monitoring these issues. She is on the record calling out the abysmal record of a number of Trump administration appointees and supporters."

Councilmember Maritza Rivera told the SGN she attended the protest, but the SGN could not confirm.

"I was happy to add my voice to the thousands of Seattleites calling for an end to bigotry, chaos, and hateful executive orders coming from the current administration," Councilmember Rivera said.

Councilmembers Sara Nelson, Robert Kettle, Joy Hollingsworth, and Rob Saka did not respond to the SGN.

"Mayor Harrell had a scheduling conflict on Saturday, as he attended the opening of a new city park [Cheryl Chow Park] with the Seattle Parks and Recreation and community members," Callie Craighead, press secretary for Mayor Harrell, told the SGN. "Mayor Harrell and our office have been consistent in speaking out against federal overreach from the Trump administration and will continue to do so."

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for Cheryl Chow Park was from noon to 2 p.m., but the Hands-Off event ran from noon to 4 p.m.

The next nationwide HANDS-OFF protest will take place on Saturday, April 19.

UPDATE (5:10 p.m. on April 7): Councilmember Hollingsworth told the SGN that resistance looks different for everyone, but especially for Black people.

"I watched my grandmother, 99 years old, march for George Floyd. Before that, she marched in the late 1960s for civil rights, still trying to heal from the trauma of Emmett Till, George Stinney, Mary Turner, Henry Smith, the list goes on...And even before that, she was surviving the savage South of the 1920s.

"Just like James Baldwin asked: How much time do you want for your progress? How many generations of our lives is this country willing to take?

"My grandmother gave hers. My parents gave theirs. I've spent 40 years in this fight.

"Resistance can look like protest, it can look like joy, it can look like being in spaces that don't look like you, or it can look like rest.

Racism might be our burden to carry, but it is their sickness to cure," Councilmember Hollingsworth said.

On Saturday, Councilmember Hollingsworth attended the Africatown Land Trust event at Langston Hughes, where she spoke alongside 100 other Black leaders and community members.

"We engaged in workshops on how we will prepare for changes at the federal level and the increases in racism and rhetoric that's been identified," Councilmember Hollingsworth added.

UPDATE (11:42 a.m. on April 8): Brad Harwood, communications director for the City of Seattle, told the SGN that Councilmember Nelson attended the HANDS-OFF protest on April 5.

The SGN reached out to Tyna Ek, who does public relations work for Indivisible Seattle- one of the groups who helped organize the event.

Ek said she was uncertain if members of Seattle City Council were invited but she did not believe so, as organizers wanted the rally to be more grass-roots based. Ek noted how Congresswoman Jayapal and Hamdi spoke on their experiences as immigrants, as well as calls to action attendees could take.

"We really wanted our focus to be a public response from the ground, grass-roots...not political," Ek said.

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