“I’ve been moping for a few months now, and I decided to come out here today,” an attendee said. “We’ve got to fight for our country, we’ve got to. We’ve tried to call our representatives, our senators, and haven’t gotten very far.”
KXAN estimated that hundreds had already shown up at the south steps of the Texas Capitol at the start of the event.
Demonstrators moved toward 6th Street in downtown Austin Wednesday afternoon. The Austin Police Department said on social media
Project 2025 is a policy framework from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation to “lay the groundwork for a White House more friendly to the right,” according to the nonprofit. It calls for a massive overhaul of the federal government through the illegal elimination of federal agencies and targeting of minority groups and diversity initiatives — policies that Trump appears to be implementing via executive order.
Several people connected to Project 2025’s creation have also been selected for positions at federal agencies, according to the AP.
According to social media posts, action is the #50501 — 50 states and 50 rallies in one day. A flyer for the Austin demonstration calls the action “a decentralized, self-organizing community action.”
“The time for preparation is over—the moment is here. We’ve done the work, we’ve built the community, we’ve gathered supplies, and now we show up,” said a moderator of subreddit r/50501.
That moderator asked demonstrators to stay peaceful, stick together and “stay loud, stay strong.”
“The work starts after the rally, it starts when you get home,” said Austin Justice Coalition organizer Chas Moore at the event. “But there are people on these steps, they aren’t talking about democracy for trans folks…they aren’t talking about democracy for Black folks.”
Signs brought to the protest had messages supporting immigrants and transgender people, as well as signs against Trump and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.
“No one elected Elon Musk,” read one sign. Another said, “F-U Elon Musk, Mars doesn’t need you either!”
Musk, leader of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, has directed the group to access the secure systems of federal agencies and pushed to dissolve the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“We need to keep this country in our pockets, not in the pockets of unelected billionaires,” another speaker said.
The protest was expected to last until 4 p.m.
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