Anna Gorman, Campus Carrier news editor
Berry’s Young Democrats, alongside students and community members outside of the group, participated in local “Hands Off!” protests in Rome on April 5 on the intersection of Riverside Parkway and Turner McCall Boulevard. The event was set up by the Floyd County Democrats, alongside local school board representatives, and was part of the over 1,400 “Hands Off!” mass-action protests held at state capitols, congressional offices and city halls throughout the country and internationally, according to CNN.
According to NPR, the “Hands Off!” protests are a series of demonstrations launched across the U.S. on April 5 aimed at opposing the policies and actions of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. These demonstrations currently hold the title of largest one-day, nationwide display of public resistance against Trump’s second administration. These protests sought to speak out against Trump and Musks’s federal agency dismantling, social security attacks, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations on immigrants and minorities, recent tariffs and the “billionaire takeover,” among other initiatives.
Cate Mendes, a junior and the vice president of Berry’s Young Democrats, heard of the “Hands Off!” protests happening in Rome through her parents, who participate in local protests often and helped bring “Hands Off!” to Rome.
“My mother, Amy Mendes, is on the school board, and her and this other woman worked together to bring it to Rome, because they knew that it was going on nationally and a lot of local interest had come up,” Mendes said. “They had a week to put it together, and [my mother] was texting me about it, and I was like, ‘I need to get this out to Berry.’ It was all very last-minute.”
Mendes said the turnout for the protest exceeded both her and her parents’ expectations.
“I had no real expectation, but my parents were incredibly surprised,” Mendes said. “It was the best turnout we’ve had, ever. We had at least 200 people. There were protest organizers from Atlanta [who] came and they talked to my dad, and they were like, ‘This is the best turnout we’ve seen.’ We haven’t seen anything like this before for a town our size, which is incredible.”
Mendes said she was especially surprised by the number of older white people, particularly older white women, who showed up.
“A lot of old white people never come out to protest,” Mendes said. “There were a lot of older white women, and that was exciting, too. It was interesting because [this protest] was mostly white people, and it’s about time.”
Mendes shared a flyer for “Hands Off!” from 50501, a political organization founded to protest the policies of the second Trump administration, in the Young Democrats GroupMe the night before the protest, which would take place at 11 a.m. Sophomore Emily Bartelson, a member of Young Democrats who was already planning on going to the protest with her mother, invited those interested to make signs at Louise Cottage in the morning before the protest.
“Then we got there, and it was fun to see people there already,” Mendes said. “I saw a couple Berry students who were not in our club who were there, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is awesome.’ The Floyd County Democrats and a lot of people who came brought extra signs and donated a pile of signs, so if you didn’t have one, you could just go over and grab one.”
Mendes said that there weren’t many notable challenges in organizing the event and getting Berry students involved, but the police did show up to the protest at one point to ask for a warrant to protest.
“They asked, and it turned out being okay because we did have the space,” Mendes said. “But it was a little scary, because they were walking around very seriously, kind of intimidating.”
However, the protest did pose a challenge for many of those present, due to how the heat and certain drivers being rude.
“A lot of us got sunburned and lost our voices, but that was really the only issue,” Mendes said. “There were a couple of drivers who were a bit rude, but most of the drivers who came by were super supportive and a few honked and waved their hands out the windows, so that was nice.”
Mendes said the most impactful moment of the protest for her was leading the chants.
“It was a little scary, because my mom came over and she was like, ‘Hey, I need you to do these chants,’” Mendes said. “I was like, my theatre training: I know how to project, I can be bold.”
The chants Mendes led were call-and-response chants, where a leader makes a call and the group responds. One of them was “Show me what democracy looks like,” followed by “This is what democracy looks like.” Another was a play on one of Chappell Roan’s songs, “HOT TO GO!”, where Mendes would spell out “G-O-T-T-O-G-O,” and the crowd would respond with “Elon Musk has got to go.”
After this protest, Mendes hopes more people in the community and in Berry will feel comfortable protesting, and more people will be encouraged to join local protest efforts.
“I talked to several people who this was their first protest,” Mendes said. “We had adults with kids who had never been to a protest. That shows you how scary a moment it is, the fact that we have middle-aged moms coming out who have never protested before because they feel so threatened by the state of our current democracy. I hope we have more demonstrations, and I hope more people feel emboldened to join in.”
For those who might be scared to protest, or who might not know where to start, Mendes recommends jumping in, even if they don’t know everything.
“I think one thing that really kept me away from speaking out about my beliefs and morals is that I was in my head about it,” Mendes said. “I felt like I wasn’t qualified because I didn’t know all the answers to these questions. Like, yeah, but the most important thing is that you care about people. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the policies, you don’t know the laws, you don’t know the politicians’ names, but if you know about human rights and you believe in loving your neighbor, it just comes down to basic humanity. Falling back on that is always a good reminder.”
For updates on potential protest organization, students and faculty can join the Young Democrats GroupMe and the Floyd County Democrats Facebook page.
Currently, there are no plans to organize or join any future protests, but Mendes said that could change.
“I know that [the “Hands Off!” protest] was a really big one, on the map and on the calendar nationally, so we wanted to join in on that,” Mendes said. “But, who knows? Who knows what our president will do?”
Protests are a way for people, no matter their age, to express their opinions and their outrage against current policies as well as an outlet to advocate for social change. Participating in local protests like “Hands Off!” is a way people can push for change in their immediate areas.
“I think it’s really interesting to see that these are young ideals,” Mendes said. “It’s not just any age range, and it’s not a phase. It’s entire generations of people who are upset about this, and that is the most important thing to remember.”