Under an overcast sky, demonstrators chanted and carried signs with slogans like “Fire Elon, not federal employees" and “Not My President.” They started at Medford City Hall before walking through downtown to Vogel Plaza.
Bailey Miller, the local coordinator of the event, criticized President Donald Trump's funding freeze for U.S. humanitarian aid around the world.
"Even the ones that voted for Trump, they didn’t ask for this," they said. "As Trump had stated, he wanted to make America better, but this is not how we do that. We don’t make our country better by putting other people down and taking funding away from food and medicine."
50501 opposes what they call “the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration.” Similar protests took place in Eugene and Portland on Monday, as well as in cities across the country, including New York City and Chicago.
One counterprotester followed Monday's crowd, carrying signs with slogans like "Viva la Trump."
The protest drew many honks of support from passing drivers, as well as pushback from some drivers who held Trump hats or flags out their windows.
"I spent 20 years in the United States Air Force," said Medford resident Benjamin Monard. "I know what good leadership looks like, and there is nothing in D.C. right now that looks like even close to good leadership."
Teresa Safay is one of the local leaders of ORD2Indivisible, a movement formed in 2017 to oppose Trump’s first administration and hold elected leaders accountable.
"We’re out here today because what’s happening to our country, and watching what appears to be a slow coup to dismantle our government, needs to be spoken out against," she said. "People need to start waking up to the dangers of Project 2025, which are being implemented more rapidly than we could have ever imagined, and so this is a way to show protest in unison with the rest of the country."
