‘We are looking at a crisis’: More protests across Bay Area, nation expected Saturday

Hundreds of protests were expected across the nation Saturday amid a growing wave of discontent over President Donald Trump s gutting of the federal workforce and sweeping tariffs that pummeled the stock territory this week The rallies planned in scores of cities across the U S including more than cities across Northern California add to the drumbeat of demonstrations that included repeated takeovers last month of Tesla dealerships owned by billionaire and senior presidential advisor Elon Musk They cap a week that saw Wall Street post its the majority devastating losses since the lead-up to the coronavirus pandemic in as Trump unveiled his largest part punishing round of tariffs yet in a moment he coined as Liberation Day Saturday s protests stretching from the Maine hamlet of Presque Isle to the Southern California coastal city of San Diego aim to fight back against Trump and Musk s attempts at taking everything they can get their hands on according to one organizer s website We are looking at a situation commented Nancy Latham an organizer with the group Indivisible East Bay which is planning a protest Saturday afternoon at Frank H Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland We are already in a constitutional predicament If you ask me there s already been an authoritarian breakthrough We are saying Listen Trump and Musk are coming for our vitality care our Social Protection our lands our schools our rights our voting rights she added Sporadic siloed protests in February and early March snowballed in current weeks into increasingly widespread and coordinated demonstrations of disgust and anger at Trump s administration Last weekend protesters swarmed Tesla dealerships across the nation in a bid to picket outside all of the company s -plus showrooms often while holding signs declaring Honk if you hate Elon and Fight the billionaire broligarchy the Associated Press shared In the Bay Area protesters in Walnut Creek Palo Alto Santa Clara and Berkeley beat drums and hurled invectives at Musk outside his dealerships Attacks also have been shared at particular Tesla dealerships at times in the form of torched Cybertrucks the AP announced Last month in Palm Beach County Florida a man drove through a crowd of protesters at a Tesla dealership demonstrating against Trump and Musk but did not injure anyone Saturday s rallies appear less focused on Tesla dealerships and more so on city centers across the nation They come amid a particularly tumultuous week that ended with Trump introducing a flat tariff on all imports while singling out about countries for even harsher fees a multitude of of which topped Investors reacted with dismay sending the S P tumbling more than in two days while the Nasdaq finished the week more than below its record high in December Oakland resident P David Pearson voiced fears Friday of being unable to pay rent in the coming years if the losses continue The -year-old retired UC Berkeley professor of teaching revealed he planned to host a modest rally Saturday at Piedmont Avenue and st Street with other retirees all of whom have watched their k holdings take a beating We re losing money every day while he s going off on this tyranny of tariffs announced Pearson adding that his own retirement accounts have declined in up-to-date months Organizers across the country voiced other concerns Paul Osadebe a federal union steward and a member of The Federal Unionists group commented he planned to attend a protest in Washington D C on Saturday where his colleagues at the U S Department of Housing and Urban Progress have faced near-daily threats to their jobs We know we have to organize and speak out stated Osadebe recalling how coworkers have been encouraged to resign or unexpectedly fired all while remaining employees in their trial division have been informed to stop accepting new cases I ve seen a nonstop attack in the name of efficiency Osadebe added It s been every attack you can think of to try to demoralize and get rid of us Latham viewed the growing fervor and tempo of protests as a means to lay the groundwork for ending Republican control of the U S House of Representatives in In the short term she voiced hope that the rallies would build momentum for universities and law firms to stand up to Trump and avoid striking more deals with the White House to avoid punishing sanctions and executive orders from the president If we have more and more of the country saying No we reject this then that will get easier for those institutions to fight back against him Latham commented And the more we have people in the street saying This is not OK with us the stronger everybody else is going to get The Associated Press contributed to this review