Protest against Trump, Musk draws hundreds in Covington

Hundreds of people attended a “Hands Off!” rally in Covington to protest many of the actions the past couple of months by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk think this country belongs to them,” according to an online promotion of the Saturday afternoon, April 5 rally. “We’re saying no! They’re taking everything they can get their hands on—our health care, our data, our jobs, our services—and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.”

There were over 1,400 “Hands Off!” protests around the world as millions protested Trump and Musk, according to CNN.com. Rallies also were held in Seattle, Federal Way, Olympia and other cities.

The rally began at Covington City Hall and moved to the 16700 block of Southeast 272nd Street (aka State Route 516), just east of Highway 18 near Fred Meyer.

IndivisibleCovingtonWA helped organize the event through social media.

“This mass mobilization day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies,” according to the group. “Alongside Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.”

Covington also was the site of a rally in February against Trump and Musk, the owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX. Trump appointed Musk to reduce the size of the national government with thousands of layoffs. Before his appointment, Musk spent at least $260 million to help get Trump elected, according to CNN.

This rally drew more people than the February protest.

“Our counters estimated a peak crowd of 850-plus and an overall rally crowd of about 1,000,” according to IndivisibleCovingtonWA.

Covington Police were aware of the rally and no major problems were reported other than some traffic, according to an April 7 email from a King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. The city contracts with the Sheriff’s Office for police services. Police did not make an estimate about the size of the crowd, but knew at least 400 were expected to attend.

“There were a ton of people all up and down both sides of the street,” said Ron Auerbach, of Kent, who attended the rally, in an email to the Kent Reporter. “And a few who were standing on the island in the middle of the street. Like last time, everyone was protesting very peacefully, which is always nice to see.”

A core principle behind all “Hands Off!” events is a commitment to nonviolent action, according to organizers.

Auerbach said he didn’t see any counter protests from Trump supporters. He said he saw more people in their late 50s and 60s compared to the February rally.

“They were protesting against cuts to Medicare and Social Security plus big concerns over the stock markets and personal finances,” Auerbach said.

The rally was just two days after Trump announced so-called reciprocal tariffs on imports from about 90 nations that are above a 10% across-the-board tax applied to all imports to the U.S., according to CBS News. Describing the announcement as “Liberation Day,” the president said the new taxes are needed to erase a trade deficit between the U.S. and other countries, ranging from China to the European Union, according to a CBS News online report.

Since the announcement of the tariffs, the U.S. stock markets suffered their largest declines on April 3 and 4 since the 2020 stock market crashes during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to several media sources.

The Saturday afternoon, April 5 rally against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk drew hundreds to Covington. COURTESY PHOTO, Ron Auerbach

The rally in Covington was one of many across the U.S. and the world against actions by President Donald Trump during his first few months in office during his second term. COURTESY PHOTO, Ron Auerbach