‘Going backwards’: Protesters take aim at President Trump’s policies at Idaho Capitol
A few hundred people gathered Wednesday outside the Capitol in downtown Boise as part of a nationwide protest called the “50501 movement.” The numbers stand for 50 protests, 50 states, one day, according to The Associated Press.
The demonstration came in response to the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been busy reshaping government since the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Participants crowded near the steps to the Capitol and dotted the small park area further back.
Anne Halford, a Boise resident, said she came to the protest because she believes in democracy.
“I’m also a former government employee,” Halford said. “I can’t believe that they’re … treating public servants the way they’re treating public servants.”
Trump and his administration have offered deferred resignations to a large swath of the federal government, ordered federal workers to return to the office and removed protections for civil servants, according to NPR, the Washington Post and CBS News.
One couple, Alma Murillo and Sabrina Elias, attended because they have personal ties to hot-button issues. Murillo is Mexican and a DACA recipient, and Elias is Palestinian.
This week, Trump suggested that Palestinians be resettled outside of Gaza and that the United States take ownership of the area, according to The Associated Press. Officials on Wednesday tried to walk back some of those statements, according to The New York Times.
“I think we’re going backwards,” Elias said.
Trump also has taken a laundry list of actions on immigration, many of which have inspired fear in Idaho and across the United States. Trump has been calling for mass deportations since the campaign trail.
“It’s just scary for families to be ripped apart, not want to take their kids to school, go to work, constantly living in fear,” Murillo said. “That’s not the way to live.”
