About 1,000 people in Hilo participate in nationwide ‘Hands Off’ protest of Trump, Musk

On Saturday in Hilo, Mario Briones held a sign that said: “Hands Off: Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, fair elections, our wallets, our jobs, personal data, public lands, veteran services, cancer research, consumer protections, libraries, schools, courts, free speech, NATO, LGBTQ+ Rights and immigrants.”

“I’m tired of everything Trump is doing,” Briones said. “I’m a veteran and I’m a senior getting Social Security benefits. He wants to wipe out veterans services and the benefits Iʻve relied on for years. And where is that ‘saved’ money going? Into his pockets? There are too many questions and not enough answers.”

Briones was among the approximately 1,000 people who gathered along Kanoelehua Avenue in Hilo as part of the “Hands Off! National Day of Action” to protest the funding cuts, job cuts, immigration tactics and other policies being taken by President Donald Trump’s administration and the Department of Government Efficiency run by billionaire Elon Musk.

Millions of people from all 50 states and globally participated in about 1,400 protests, CNN reported.

There also were three other Big Island “Hands Off Hawaiʻi” events — held in Waimea, Naʻalehu and Kailua-Kona — with a common theme to stop the federal government from slashing social security, education, healthcare, veterans services and more.

“One reason I came today was because I was scared to come,” said Jenny, who declined to give her last name. “I was afraid my first amendment right would be weaponized against me. But if I donʻt use it, I may lose it one day. I was ready to come here and be one of three people, but it feels a lot safer with this many people showing up.”

She said she feels the country is moving toward becoming a Christian police state.

Mike Klungness, Chair of the Hawaiʻi County Democrats, said he was impressed by the large number of people that Indivisible Hawaiʻi was able to attract to the protest.

Indivisible Hawaiʻi was created in 2016 as part of a national grassroots movement to defeat the Trump agenda of racism, misogyny and authoritarianism.

“It is an impressive group and they are doing a lot of get people engaged with that local and state government,” Klungness said. “We needed this so we could see how many of us there are trying to make a difference.”

At least 1 counter protestor walked up and down the line of hundreds of people throughout the morning, but was not confronted during the event.

Today, Indivisible is still working to defy Trump and Project 2025 by engaging communities with protests and outreach, building coalitions for particular issues, advocating with members of Congress and working to flip the U.S. House blue in November 2026, starting with the special election for Arizona Congressional District 7 and Texas Congressional District 18.

They also have a list of bills in the state legislature that have been introduced with the goal of protecting the freedoms in Hawaiʻi. 

According to Maryellen Tuttell with Indivisible Kona, the goal of the organization is to protect democracy and the Constitutional balance of powers.

“We are a group of local residents concerned about the thoughtless dismantling of federal government programs and agencies by Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” Tuttell said. “The Trump Administration is acting as if the president is a king and ignoring or fighting the roles of Congress and the Judiciary in establishing the laws and functions of the federal government.”

In a CBS News report, Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency has made funding cuts leading to more than 280,000 layoffs of federal workers and contractors across 27 agencies since February. Another 4,429 job cuts have resulted from the Trump administration’s ending of contracts or cutting federal aid, with those job losses mostly at nonprofits and health organizations.

The administration has cut grants for education and clean energy initiatives while promising a tax cut to the nation’s wealthiest residents. 

“His focus on dismantling federal agencies and implementing tariffs reduces services for the public and raises the price of living for all of us,” Tuttell said.

For Victoria Lopez, dismantling the Department of Education was one of the reasons she was protesting. She is now fearing she may not be able to get students loans or her Pell grant to graduate in December.

“Everything is being defunded and I’m worried about the future of my education and my usual loans and grants being taken away so I canʻt graduate,” she said. “As a Mexican American, it worries me that people are being kidnapped off the street without due process.”

Although she was born in the United States, Lopez has been told by people on social media that she will be deported or that she should fear the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Just because my last name is Lopez, I have people saying to go back to a place I have never been,” she said. “It is terrifying that even U.S. citizens are scared of deportation right now.”

The Trump administration has recently used the Alien Enemies Act and immigration authorities to send hundreds of migrants it has alleged are gang members to an El Salvadoran prison, however, they have admitted that at least one person was accidentally deported, even though he was protected from removal. 

Civil liberty advocates have been warning the administration is rushing to deport individuals without offering full evidence to support allegations of gang affiliation. In the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, he was deported without due process, which is protected for all people under the U.S. Constitution.

“They are ripping families apart, creating fear and turning neighbor against neighbor,” Jenny said. “I do fear terrorism, but it’s from fellow Americans. The administration is impacting the collective of all people and it’s just sad.”

Paisley, who declined to give her last name, was near the end of the line of protestors holding a sign that read, “Community = Resistance” while standing with her friends.

“The system is broken and community is the only way we can fix it,” Paisley said. “I was born and raised here in Hawaiʻi and I want to see us help each other. I hope we can make this energy continue.”