Thousands of Utahns gather for rally, food drive on national day of protest against Pres. Trump

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — On April 19, thousands of Utahns gathered at the State Capitol for a rally and a food drive as part of another national day of protest. According to the Utah Highway Patrol, as many as 2,500 people were at the Capitol at the height of the event.

People across the country took part in protests coordinated by the national organization 50501 and local partners on Saturday. In the Beehive State, the nonprofit Unsheltered Utah partnered with the

Utah branch of 50501 to help run a food drive at the rally.

“Our revolution will be one of peace and diversity,” event organizers said in a press release.
“Solidarity will be our resistance.”

Carl Moore, the chairman of Unsheltered Utah, told ABC4.com that his organization partnered with 50501 to highlight Indigenous voices and the fact that the unsheltered community is often heavily impacted by policies.

Moore also said that undocumented people are often in need of shelter, but they are “a target” of the current administration. He spoke about the importance of giving a voice to communities who may be further marginalized when they are unhoused.

“We have the oppression of women, people of color, Black people, Indigenous people — all of those policies are affecting people, but they affect people that are unhoused more,” Moore told ABC4.com. “People that are unhoused, they generally don’t have that voice — their voices aren’t listened to.”

Jerry was protesting on Saturday, and told ABC4.com that he was at the Capitol because he felt like the Trump administration is taking actions that don’t match his view of “what America is.”

“That strong belief in America is in my soul, and what I am seeing right now is offensive to that,” Jerry said. “It is not the America I believe in. It is not the America my father fought for. It is not — and somebody has to stand up and stop it.”

Adam Guymon was protesting in support of disability rights, and said those rights are important because “anyone can end up with a disability.” Adam also said he would like to see “a better voting system.”

“I don’t trust the two-party system anymore because of how it’s structured — it’s not structured to allow people to really have their own voice,” Adam said.

However, Saturday’s rally also had counter-protesters present, including Rachel, who said she supports Phil Lyman and believes that “Trump is better than the alternate.”

“I’m here because I love America, and I love my country, and I love my children, and I want them to have freedom that I’ve enjoyed growing up,” Rachel told ABC4.com.

The protest on April 19 happened about two weeks after more than 10,000 Utahns took part in a “Hands Off” rally on April 5.

“I believe in the checks and balances, I believe in the separation of power,” Jerry said. “I believe that one person should not have the ultimate authority or say over what happens in our country.”

Jeff Hunter contributed to this report.