Protests erupt against US govt policies

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets under the banner "May Day Strong" in Washington and other US cities on Thursday, marking May 1 with protests against the second-term policies of US President Donald Trump's administration.

In the capital, demonstrators gathered at Franklin Square near federal buildings and marched to Lafayette Square at the gate of the White House, chanting slogans such as "We are the majority, they are the minority" and "No justice, no peace", and waving handmade signs.

Messages ranged from "Protect Medicaid and Social Security" to calls for union protections and immigrant rights, reflecting the diverse coalition mobilized by the 50501 movement since its emergence from online forums earlier this year.

The number 50501 symbolizes"50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement", and it is a grassroots movement that largely organized the "National Day of Solidarity" protest across the United States, mostly on May Day.

The protest events, right after the administration's first 100 days, merged traditional International Workers' Day themes with opposition to the second Trump administration's actions on immigration, federal agencies, social programs and perceived threats to democratic norms.

Many participants described their presence as a defense of fundamental rights. D.H., a teacher from Northern Virginia who asked to be identified only by his initials, emphasized concerns over "wealth inequality, protection of democracy and the people's right to speak their voice, no matter what".

He specifically connected the May Day protest to the historical struggle for labor rights. "Part of the Trump administration is very anti-labor union, and the unions are what gave us weekends and holidays and benefits, protected people from child labor, from having an unsafe workplace," he said, adding the labor unions are one of the few remaining groups in society that can push back.

"The greatest notion is (against having) more than 1 percent of the population control 99 percent of the wealth in America," he said. "It is nice to see that everybody's rallying around that."

Immigration concerns

Immigration policies were among the major focal points.

Michelle Petrie, a retail worker taking part in the demonstrations, criticized "the cruel treatment of people who've come to live in this country from other countries".

She carried a butterfly model, which "symbolizes freedom", she said. "Also, this kind of butterfly is a monarch that migrates. ... And so, it's a sign of those things: immigration, beauty, freedom."

Betty Lee Hawks, a retired 35-year federal employee who worked at the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, said she was concerned about the functioning of the federal government itself and the effects of policy changes on specific communities. She specifically criticized efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

"What gets rolled under that umbrella is decades of work to deal with health disparities," she said, explaining that the work addressed differences "in the incidence of disease and how people access services".

Hawks said that historically, research data, particularly from clinical trials, skewed heavily toward white males, leaving gaps in understanding health outcomes for women and ethnic minorities.

Efforts since the 1990s to include these groups were vital, she said, because "when you raise the health status of people who have historically been disadvantaged, you actually bring up everyone's health".

She accused the administration of undermining this progress, citing staffing reductions at her former Office of Minority Health and actions affecting the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. "That is not an executive power. It's really up to Congress," she said.

The 50501 movement, leveraging social media platforms such as Reddit, Instagram and TikTok, coordinated more than 1,000 events nationwide, according to its website.

Actions varied across the country, the website showed, from traditional marches in New York and Seattle to community service projects such as food drives in Southern California, aimed at supporting those affected by recent wildfires and economic hardships, attributed partly to the administration's tariff policies.