Over 500 people gathered in Dewitt Park downtown Saturday for a protest against the Trump administration.
The event was part of a National Day of Action organized across the country by the grassroots 50501 movement, and sought to draw support from a broad array of causes. It featured speeches from professors and political figures to a crowd assembled in the park, many of whom held signs criticizing Elon Musk or expressing solidarity with federal workers.
A poster for the Ithaca event advertised support for “social security, medicare and medicaid, Ukraine, Palestine, immigration rights, LGBTQ rights, voting rights, and everything this administration is destroying.”
The rally included speeches by its organizer, Angelica Pazmino-Schell ’25, former Alderperson and current Common Council candidate Jorge DeFendini ’22, Common Council candidate Hannah Shvets ’27 and Prof. Kenneth Roberts, government.
At times, it was difficult to make out what speakers were saying over the wind, drizzle, and cars honking in support, but the crowd often responded with enthusiastic support.
Prof. Alyssa Apsel, electrical and computer engineering, emphasized the importance of defending science and technology research in a speech to the crowd.
“I feel like I have to be [here], because this is existential. This is about us, this is about my kids, this is about generations of scientists,” Apsel said. “We're risking a lot. Our programs, my entire life's work, is at risk here, but I'm willing to do it because this is existential. And we will continue to fight.”
A representative of Assemblymember Anna Kelles (D-125th District) read a statement from her about resistance and respect for the environment on Earth Day.
“It is our responsibility to say, ‘I notice,’” the representative said. “To see and to name the dismantling of our system of higher education, the systematic dismantling of critical thinking, we will not be quiet. We are not sheep — we are lions, and we will not be silenced.”
This was the first protest organized by Pazmino-Schell ’25, a student studying engineering. She said she has attended many protests but only decided to organize this one when she learned Ithaca didn’t have an event planned for the National Day of Action.
“I decided that I had to [organize] it because I felt that representation from Ithaca was important, especially with what’s going on with colleges,” she said.
Pazmino-Schell was in contact with Indivisible Tompkins, a local branch of the national anti-Trump activist organization Indivisible, who she said chose not to organize an event so soon after the national Hands Off! protest on April 5, which was the largest rally in Ithaca since the Women’s March in January 2017. She is also the founder of What You Can Do Now, which provides information on events, opportunities and resources for political activism.
Pazmino-Schell added that she hoped to accommodate a wide ideological spread and bring the protest movement together.
“People are there for one reason — under multiple flags, but for one reason, right? To resist what's happening in the administration,” she said. “I think liberals and Democrats in general have much more diverse viewpoints than a lot of Republicans, so I think that bringing that energy to the protest would be a great idea.”
Shvets, a candidate for the Common Council’s Fifth Ward, agreed that it was good to see people from different backgrounds in attendance.
“I really like to see people I haven't seen before,” Shvets said. “A lot of the events we go to, there [are] very specific organizations, which I think is great, but it's also amazing to see people from all sorts of groups because it shows that we're all united against this and we have real energy in Ithaca.”
Attendees came from a variety of ages and backgrounds. Ithaca College sophomore Daniel Edelman said it was the first protest he had attended in years.
“I feel like this administration is doing a bunch of stuff that’s alienating our country from our allies, removing the rights from our citizens, and it's just not good,” Edelman said.
After about an hour of speeches, the National Day of Action protest ended and many attendees made their way to the Ithaca Commons, where Ithaca’s annual Earth Day Festival was underway. About 100 people gathered at the Bernie Milton Pavilion to chant and hold signs, although it did not seem to be an officially organized event, and neither Pazmino-Schell nor most of the speakers in Dewitt Park were present.
Gail Sakai was at the Milton Pavilion with her husband, Prof. Emeritus Naoki Sakai, Asian studies. She said the group on the Commons was a smaller core of regular protestors, although they were also joined by people who had come along from Dewitt Park.
“It's probably more targeted, and I feel those who are here, I think it's a smaller group,” she said. “But I feel people are just more animated and more determined. And this is how these crowds help. It definitely seems like there's a lot of spontaneous support.”
As for the future? When asked, Pazmino-Schell said she’ll organize a protest again “for sure.”
“It was great to give people an opportunity to have their voices heard.”
