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Updated on: April 5, 2025 / 6:10 PM EDT / CBS Baltimore
Many people packed the plaza outside Baltimore City Hall Saturday afternoon as part of a nationwide protest against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
Area residents stood with 250,000 others in similar demonstrations across the country.
Organizers called the event a ‘Hands Off!’ rally – sending a clear message to President Trump and other elected officials to take their hands off of education, healthcare, and much more.
The Free State Coalition says Saturday’s protest was also about building community in Maryland.
Politicians, union leaders, and even musicians spoke at the roughly three-hour event.
Jessica Davis, one of the organizers with the Free State Coalition, says more than a thousand people registered. However, they say they saw closer to 3,000 people packing the City Hall lawn.
She says people came for all different reasons, such as LGBTQ+ rights, social security, and immigration.
“We are fighting for community. We are fighting for human rights, citizens’ rights and really trying to build community to come together to be able to show that the power of the people is greater than the people in power,” Davis told WJZ’s Kaicey Baylor.
WJZ reached out to the Maryland Republican Party for comments but has yet to hear back.
Kaicey Baylor joined WJZ as a reporter in October 2024. Before coming to Charm City, she spent the last three years as a morning reporter and multiskilled journalist at 13News Now in Norfolk, Virginia. She covered several stories including the Chesapeake Walmart mass shooting, the Richneck Elementary shooting, as well as anti-gun violence advocates working to repair their communities.
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