MONROE — About 300 people gathered around the Historic Green County Courthouse lawn on April 5 as part of the 50501 movement’s “Hands Off” protests. Short for “50 protests, 50 states, one movement,” 50501 is a political action organization founded to protest the polices and actions of the second Donald Trump administration in the United States. Local rallies are organized by local volunteers. The sit-in rally in Monroe, itself dubbed “Remove, Reverse, Reclaim” was one of several in the stateline region. New Glarus had about 100 protesters, organizers said, while Madison saw more than 20,000 and Milwaukee 18,000.
Monroe’s sit-ins had several speakers, and protesters sang “America the Beautiful” and “Do You Hear The People Sing?” from the popular musical-turned-movie Les Misérables.
The most prominent speaker at the Monroe protest came remotely, as American Diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Linda Thomas-Greenfield connected over video. Thomas-Greenfield served in her UN role during the Biden Administration (2021-25). Prior to that, she taught political science at Bucknell University and served in roles in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Director General of the Foreign Service and was the assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. While not originally from Wisconsin, she calls it her adopted home after attending post-graduate school in the state and then long after.
Local speakers included Alyssa Cessna (Brodhead), Scott Rippe (New Glarus), and Rev. Susan Andersen, Lou Dalton, Nicole Wilcox, Arianna Voegeli and Joshua Mittness — all of Monroe.
It was the second protest in Monroe for the 50501 movement, which was organized by local leaders. While the first had chilly and wet conditions in March, the sunny skies likely helped bring more faces this time around.
“In unprecedented times our resistance must also be unprecedented,” said Scott Rippe, of Rippeology.
Many protesters brought homemade signs — some straight to the point, some angry, some with words of encouragement, some sarcastic and others humorous.
Local organizers are already spreading the word about a May rally to show support with Dando Una Mano: Together We Rise, an independent nonprofit organization in Green County that stemmed from the MultiCultural Outreach Program (MCOP). “Dando” exists to welcome and celebrate diverse community members, advocate for inclusivity, and educate the community about the value of diversity.
Protests also took place in Beloit, Janesville and Freeport, as well as Wausau, Reedsburg, Watertown, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Stevens Point, Marshfield, Eau Claire, Oconomowoc, Burlington, Racine, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Appleton, hundreds of other cities across all 50 states. Estimates are that over 5 million Americans participated across the country. Cities in other parts of the world, like Lisbon, Portugal, also joined in solidarity.
The message: Keeping the hands of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) off of crucial federal government infrastructure, like the Department of Education; oversight and regulatory agencies like the EPA, FDA, NIH, and SSA; and long standing personal freedoms and rights, like health care, women’s reproductive rights, personal data collection, cancer research, the Clean Air Act, consumer protection, immigration visas and a slew of others. Since taking office in the White House for a second time, Trump and Musk have gone after a plethora of social services and regulatory agencies under the guise of ridding the country of wasteful government spending — all while non-partisan economists show that it will only make matters worse not only in the distant future, but in the immediate present.
Trump’s tariffs went into effect last week and sent stock prices tumbling in free fall, and that trend continued across Asia, Europe and North America on Monday. Prices for consumers are likely to spike between 4-20% depending on the product.