A national day of protest in the 50 capitals of the 50 states – including in Columbus – spilled into cities and towns across the country, including in central Ohio.
Coshocton
About 150 people gathered at a gazebo on Coshocton’s Courthouse Square by noon on Saturday to hear protest songs from the 1960s and short speeches. They were there to speak out against Trump administration budget cuts and the actions on behalf of President Donald Trump by billionaire Elon Musk.
From infants in strollers to older folks using walkers, they showed up in downtown Coshocton with signs saying “Hands off,” followed by such things as “Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security;” “Trans rights, gay rights, human rights;” “Science;” “Our libraries;” “My body;” and “Our Constitution.”
Organizers stressed that it was a non-partisan event, and that was demonstrated by the organizers themselves. Breanne Smith, chair of the local Democratic Party, was one of them and said it was open to “anyone who is upset about current events.” Another was Dr. Robert Gwinn, who was the Republican Coshocton County coroner for 25 years.
“We’re all here for different reasons,” Gwinn said. “In the middle of one of central Ohio’s reddest neighborhoods, there are people concerned about the country and showing that we’re together.”
In the crowd was Millie Perkins, who lived in Coshocton County for 60 years and spent many of them working at the local Buehler’s grocery store. She will be 90 on May 28, and it was the first protest she ever attended.
“This is because, at my age, I’m a little more engaged,” she said. “Republican or Democrat – right now, party doesn’t matter. We need to watch these guys and be careful. … I just want to stand up and say, ‘Keep your hands off for a bit; you’re going too far too fast.”
A protester marching in downtown Coshocton on April 5 gets a thumbs-up from a passerby. 
Dr. Robert Gwinn cheers on protesters marching in downtown Coshocton on April 5. 
About 150 people showed up on the Coshocton County Courthouse lawn. on April 5 to protest Trump administration policies and budget cuts. 
Many of the protesters in Coshocton on April 5 carried signs saying “Hands off…” 
The Coshocton protest on April 5 was offered as a non-partisan event. 
Musician and singer Ken Parsons, of Coshocton County, sang folk and protest songs to start the rally in Coshocton on April 5. 
There was creativity among the protest signs on display in Coshocton on April 5.
Nearby a man wore a t-shirt emblazoned with, “Will trade racists for immigrants.”
Out on the nearby street, young men in a big pickup truck adorned with a Confederate flag sticker revved their engine and shouted support for Trump and five counter-protestors.
Frank Mathews of West Lafayette carried a sign that said, “Veterans deserve respect, not budget cuts.”
Mathews said he isn’t a veteran, but he knows a lot of them. “They earn everything they get when they get back. To cut those benefits is criminal.”
Robin Swails, 33, who was born and raised in Coshocton County, said she works for a textbook company and enjoys supporting teachers with math books. And she thinks about the children reading those books.
“It’s so bleak to look at what the future holds for them,” she said, especially when she hears so much hate-filled rhetoric.
Swails was wearing a t-shirt with the words, “Empathy is more rebellious than a middle finger.”
What’s happening in the United States today, she said, isn’t partisan. “It affects everyone,” she said.
Her husband, she said, learned last week that funding has been cut for the work he does to properly clean up and seal up abandoned oil and gas wells. The “orphan well” program is funded through June, she said, but after that, they don’t know what the future holds.
Regardless, Swails said, “we need kindness, empathy and caring.”
Mount Vernon
Less than half a mile from a nearly-cresting Kokosing River, hundreds gathered in protest of the Trump Administration on the town square in Mount Vernon on Saturday.
Signs read “Hands Off My Social Security,” “Elon Musk is a bad president” and “Chaos is not Efficient.” One man walked across the square carrying an American flag in distress position, as children played tag beneath just-budding trees.
A man in a Subaru Outback slowed down, pointing a finger and shouted, “Losers!” But mostly the responses from passersby are supportive waves, beeps, and shouts.
Peggy Dunn, Mount Vernon, held a sign that read, “Mitts off Canada.” The sign was painted by the children of a public agency worker who was afraid to attend out of fear that they might lose their job.
“I’m too old to be scared,” Dunn said. “But my nephew is about to have a baby and I worry about what kind of life he’s going to have. I really felt I had to come today.”
Dunn’s friend Betsy Workman, Mount Vernon, said that today was her first protest. She came prepared with an American flag and a sign that read, “Love defies hate.”
“I’ve got my license in case I get arrested or anything,” Workman said.
Dunn replied that they would get rid of her pretty quick so not to worry. They both laughed.
Shana Stepp from Mount Vernon said she is disabled and on disability. She’s worried about losing her benefits, about losing her home.
“I’m very frightened for the future of our country,” Stepp said. “We’ve never seen anything like this before. This is fascism in the making.”
“He’s said plenty in the media about what he wants to do in the country, and it’s not democratic,” she said, as horns blared behind her.
Stepp said that people are here today to help raise awareness. “The Trump administration has done a good job suppressing stuff in the media.” Stepp said she contributed to a letter-writing campaign, an effort to send thousands of cards to Trump on March 15th.
“It was supposed to cause a media stir, bags and bags of postcards. I googled and googled and googled, and I have heard nothing.”
Today, she said, she feels like she is doing something.
Across the square from Stepp, Amanda Shufelberger, clad in her old National Parks Service uniform, where she said that until recently many of her friends were still employed.
That is, she said, until they were told they had 30 minutes to clear out their computers and they were told they had thirty minutes to clean out their computers before they would be shut down.
And because many people who work for the forest service, Fish and Wildlife, or the Parks Service, also live on site, they were not only suddenly jobless, they were also homeless, she said.
“I’m out here today for them.”
Shufelberger was energized by the crowd, somewhere over 300.
“A lot of times when you’re just scrolling on social media and you’re reading comments, I’m like, no, I don’t have hope. But today when you’re walking around seeing people with smiles on their faces and seeing so many people, that gives me hope.
“This is actual people in action.”
Columbus
More than 4,000 attendees braved the rain and the wind to gather at the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus between 12-3 p.m. on Saturday, carrying ponchos, signs, bullhorns and American flags with them.
At the Columbus 50501 protest, organizers brought together local political leaders to speak to the crowds
“Today was going to be a day of action, especially for farmers,” said Bryn Bird, Granville Township Trustee and recently elected president of the Ohio Farmers Union. “This past week has been hell for farmers, so I knew it was important to speak out.”
New tariffs announced by the Trump administration this past week could spell trouble for farmers, many of who rely on trade with nations like Mexico and Canada. And even more farmers across the country are facing cuts to federal programs like the local food procurement program.
“We had $1 billion cut from the local food procurement program. … and in Ohio, we have four farmers that are out about $1 million, and that was for the farm labor stabilization program. That was a program where we were trying to get legal farm workers into the country and helping small farms that may not have access to that type of workforce, and they are out money,” Bird continued. “These are legal contracts. It was contracts where [farmers] put the money out, [they] submit their receipts and you get reimbursed. They’re not getting reimbursed.”
Bryn Bird, a Granville township trustee and new chair of the Ohio Farmers Union, called on the crowd to contact Ohio’s federal representatives and senators to support members of the working class and farmers. 
Mia Lewis, the associate director at Common Cause Ohio, lead the crowd of about 4,000 in chants at the 50501 protest at the Ohio Statehouse 
Jerrad Christian, who ran for the House of Representatives in the Ohio 12th district in the 2024 election, emphasized love and kindness in his speech to a massive crowd at the Columbus 50501 protest.
Other speakers included Jerrad Christian, a Navy veteran who ran for Congress in Ohio’s district 12 in 2024, as well as Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, a professor at Ohio State University, Rep. Munira Abdullahi, the first Muslim, Somali woman elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, and Morgan Harper, a local attorney in Columbus who ran for Congress in 2020 and Senate in 2022.
Newark
Approximately 550 people marched around the Licking County Courthouse in Newark, Ohio in the rain to protest the Trump Administration.
Tracee Laing, a member of Licking County Democratic Club, organized the Hands Off protest in Newark. She did not expect this large of a crowd to show up in the poor weather and in Licking County.
“This is probably emblematic of what’s happening across the country and that’s sending a clear message to Trump and Musk,” Laing said.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt came to the Hands Off protest covered in signs that expressed her outrage with the Trump Administration, particularly Elon Musk.
“We have turned into the United States of lawlessness, all of our rights are under attack,” Hamler-Fugitt said.
She was overwhelmed with the turnout and believes it shows how many are concerned with the direction of the country. Hamler-Fugitt is very concerned about the future of the economy due to Trump’s tariffs.
“He inherited the best economy in the world and Trump has drove it right into the ditch of a recession in 72 days,” she said.
Rita Kipp represented the Licking County League of Women Voters at the Hands Off protest. Kipp showed up because she was upset about the firing of federal workers and dismantling of departments.
“I’ve done this more than once, gone around this square with a banner. This is the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I think that says there are a lot of things that people have to be upset about and they are getting increasingly upset … I think people are finally finding their voice.”
Cars drove around the square in support of the messages of the protest. Counter protestors also drove around the square with opposing flags.
Westerville
Hundreds of people braved the weather to attend a protest in Westerville, just north of Columbus in central Ohio.
Shannon Ryker, Barbara Bargdill and Brandon Bargdill hold an upside-down American flag. “Our country is in distress, as you can see with my upside-down flag,” Ryker said. “I think by the crowd size here in the little Westerville, it’s pretty clear that we’re fed up with unelected officials running the country and taking everything away from us that we’ve worked hard for. It just needs to end.” 
Tobias Gordon “The current situation is about as terrible in almost every aspect, one can imagine,” said Tobias Gordon, who attended the protest in Westerville. “I feel very strongly on all the human rights violations, the cuts to social security, education, healthcare and the environment. It’s intentionally everything that should be important to a civilized society and they are trying to throw it all down, very systematically and very quickly and terrifyingly.” 
Westerville residents wear ponchos to protect from the rain during the protest. 
“Trump’s taking away what we need, what we are owed, what we fight for,” said Liz Hamen, who attended the 50501 protests in Westerville. “If we don’t stand up for that and celebrate that and congregate and talk about it, it’s gonna go away. So why don’t we stand up for it? That’s our right. He’s trying to remove it and bully us away from it. That’s why I’m here organizing and pulling everybody together. To validate that we’re doing the right thing, to validate with each other that we deserve this, and everybody deserves this. We’re here.” 
More than 500 people attended the protest in Westerville on April 5, 2025. 
“The planet, everything else pales by comparison no matter what your politics are,” said Peter, who attended a protest in Westerville. “No matter what the short term damage being done here, that’s the long term damage.” 
Joe Nelson brought a drum to the Westerville protest. 
Lee Bradford attended the 50501 protest in Westerville to support protections for gay and transgender Americans. “90% of my friends are trans. Most of my friends are very, very angry. I’m here, just in general solidarity of every person who has been wronged so far by this very short administration,” Bradford said. “The first 90 days have been terrible and I am tired. So here I am, waving a flag and making lots of noise.” 
Zanesville
Zanesville City Council member John Taylor-Lehman attended the protest in his city. “There are so many executive orders happening right now that it’s hard to tell which one is the worse,” Taylor-Lehman said. “So our purpose here today is to raise awareness to all the badness that is taking place in our state.” 
Amy Sloayn, center, is a substitute school teacher who now lives in Chicago, but has daughters living in Zanesville. “We’re here to protest against basically everything,” Sloayn said. “Free speech, the job cuts, education, democracy in general. People around here will start getting it hard, especially the school children. School children will stop getting fed because there’s no money for school lunches.” 
Jamie Mirgon, a member of the Muskingum Women’s Democratic Club, helped organize the protest in Zanesville, and expressed surprise and excitement over the size of the protest. “This is the biggest protest that we’ve had in Zanesville [in recent history],” Mirgon said. “I’m overwhelmed, but kind of sad that we have to take our voices to the streets. We need to bring back our democracy so it can go back to way things were, we also need to improve our economy, I think that’s important. I couldn’t stay silent any longer, I had to come out even if it is a red county in a red state.”
Reporting for this story was by Alan Miller, Julia Lerner, Jack Shuler, Doug Swift, Liv Barton, Ella Diehl, Ellen Hansen, Shaye Phillips and Caroline Zollinger, all of whom write for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers.
Alan Miller was in Coshocton. Julia Lerner was in Columbus. Jack Shuler was in Mount Vernon. Doug Swift and Caroline Zollinger were in Newark. Liv Barton and Ella Diehl were in Westerville. Ellen Hansen and Shaye Phillips were in Zanesville.
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