Despite freezing temperatures, several hundred people gathered outside of the State House on Wednesday to protest the Trump administration’s chaotic first two weeks in office.
The event was part of a national day of protest in state capitals. But Maine’s rally also highlighted the growing frustrations among some Democrats and progressives about what they see as a weak response from Democratic leaders.
“This movement is for the people and by the people. We do not need a party,” said Nicholas Jackson of Hallowell, who obtained a permit for the event after the local Democratic committee canceled a rally over fears of “infiltrators.”
Like its counterparts around the country, the event was largely organized online and on social media with the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501 — short for 50 protests in 50 states on one day.
Attendees at the Augusta rally chanted slogans such as “Stop the coup,” “Musk must go” and “Change starts with us” while holding aloft signs calling Trump a traitor and a threat to democracy. They protested President Donald Trump and Elon Musk and the slew of executive actions that have, among other things, sought to eliminate birthright citizenship, ended federal diversity programs, shuttered foreign aid offices and raised the specter of mass layoffs of federal civil servants.
They also called on Maine’s two U.S. senators — Republican Susan Collins and independent Angus King — to oppose many of Trump’s controversial Cabinet nominees. Collins is under intense pressure from both sides on nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for health and human services secretary, because Republicans hold just a three-seat majority in the Senate.
It’s no secret that the November elections left the Democratic Party in disarray and left many Democrats feeling disillusioned, depressed and unsure about how to proceed. But the overwhelming message from the several hundred protesters gathered outside of Maine’s State House was that the days of “reserved” or “targeted” responses to the Trump agenda were over.
In chants and in handmade signs, attendees railed against Trump and Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and social media mogul leading Trump’s campaign against government waste, corruption and “wokeism.”
“It is essential for Congress, who is elected by the people, to understand that they have to act now,” Jackson said. “We are not going to just lay down and take this.”
The Kennebec County Democratic Committee had originally applied for a permit to hold the rally at the State House on Wednesday. But the committee’s leadership abruptly canceled the event just days before Wednesday.
“The event planned for tomorrow has been infiltrated by bad actors looking to spread hate, misinformation, and turmoil,” the committee chair, Joanne Mason, wrote in a posting on social media. “Out of an abundance of caution we have decided to cancel the event tomorrow Feb. 5 effective immediately. We have pulled our permit with the Capitol Police and any one who shows up will be considered on their own.”
But the cancellation prompted an angry reaction from some activists, who viewed it as symptomatic of what they see as national Democratic inaction in response to Trump.
“We’re here and we spun this up very quickly,” Jackson said. “So if we’re a little disorganized, that’s OK because we’re just the American people and we’re angry that these things are happening. But the energy and the spirit is massive.”
The fears of “infiltrators” causing turmoil at the event never materialized, although a handful of boisterous Trump supporters did briefly offer a competing message. They waved a Trump flag and attempted to drown out the protests with loud music and their own shouts. But the much larger crowd responded with boos, chants and an impromptu version of “The Star Spangled Banner” started by a horn player in the crowd.
The crowd began to disperse an hour or 90 minutes after the rally began. But a few hardy, bundled up souls continued to hoist signs, chant and dance to music outside of the State House well into the afternoon.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
