Colorful pieces of posterboard were held high Saturday morning as the aromas of downtown Sioux Falls wafted through the air. Around 1,000 people stood crowded near the federal courthouse, and they each shared the same message:
“Hands Off!”
The “Hands Off!” protest in Sioux Falls was one of a network of around 1,000 planned in the United States Saturday, all aimed to reject President Donald Trump’s recent attempts to overhaul the federal government.
More: Anti-Trump protesters gathered at hundreds of locations nationwide
“Hands Off!” is “a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history,” the group’s website says, referring to Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and other allies.
The event was hosted in conjunction with local grassroots groups. In Sioux Falls, event organizers included South Dakota Indivisible 605, the Justice Empowerment Network of Sioux Falls, the 50501 movement and Tiwakan.org, according to a local poster.
Turnout for Saturday’s event surpassed attendance at recent demonstrations, including a February “50501 Movement” protest in the same location.
“This is amazing,” 45-year-old Mitchell resident Adria Johnson said. “This is absolutely stunning for South Dakota. I’m so proud of our state right now it’s ridiculous.”
Protestors hold signs and American flags behind a barricade near the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
“I’m afraid of what’s to come”
Sioux Falls resident Joy Schroeder wanted to spend part of her 55th birthday at Saturday’s protest.
“The Constitution, three equal parts of government, and that the Senate’s not doing their job, and they’re not putting the brakes on Trump when they need to,” Schroeder said when explaining why she was protesting. “And the fact that Elon Musk is just running amok, cutting anything and everything that he so chooses, including those agencies that have been actively investigating the malfeasance he’s doing at his own companies.”
Schroeder has a mother who receives Medicare and has a 60-year-old sister with Alzheimer’s disease.
More: A North Dakota mayor resigned after sending a nude video to the city attorney. Here’s what we know
The National Institute of Health (NIH) began canceling “tens of millions of grants” in March as Trump ordered the abolishment of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, according to reporting from USA Today. One canceled research grant included a project studying Alzheimer’s disease in Asian and Latino Americans.
“I’m afraid of what’s to come, for everybody,” Schroeder said.
A woman holds a sign reading “Hands off our postal service,” at the “Hands Off!” protest in Sioux Falls on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
“A voice for our people”
Nineteen-year-old Isaiah Foolbull and 20-year-old Hannah Bernie, both from Sioux Falls, said they attended the protest to provide a voice for the native community.
Foolbull, a drumkeeper, wanted to attend the protest to show his “love and respect for the things that other people do.”
“I just came out here to be a voice for our people,” Foolbull said.
Bernie sported a red handprint across her mouth, which, according to Native Hope, indicates her support for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement.
‘They paved the way for us‘
Ada Meier, 20, said she wants to pursue a career in climate change.
“And if [Trump] is stripping EPA protections, then I’m not gonna have a f****** job,” she said.
She also referenced previous protests throughout America’s history.
“And there’s women who are 75-years-old out here, who have been in the streets of Vietnam, women’s rights, protesting in the past,” Meier said. “They paved the way for us, and now I have to be out here protesting all over again.”
More: St. Cloud chain acquires Kessler’s Food and Grocery
Meier’s friend, 18-year-old Eve McMahon, said she has seen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take Sioux Falls residents into custody.
According to USA Today, President Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, attempted to end birthright citizenship and invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
“And I’ve had my friends express to me that they’re scared with their grandmothers, their mothers, their fathers, it’s scary what they’re doing,” McMahon said. “They’re just picking up people with no respect for Miranda rights or any sort of laws.”
Nineteen-year-old Favan Berhanu said people shouldn’t let past protesting efforts go to waste.
“They had to get on the streets, and we can’t let all of that go to waste,” Berhanu said. “We have to speak up in our voices to be heard.”
While the event in Sioux Falls was scheduled to end at 1 p.m., protestors remained steadfast on South Phillips Avenue, as a chorus of passing cars honked in support.
USA Today contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota residents join nationwide anti-Trump ‘Hands Off’ protest
Read the full article here
