Why I Joined the Protest in Washington DC

“Hands Off” protest in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of Anne Curley.

Wisconsin may not have had many representatives at Saturday’s giant protest rally in Washington DC, but the state had a huge fan base there.

As a cheesehead delegation of one (or so it seemed) in a sea of an estimated 100,000 protesters, I was showered with expressions of joy and gratitude for the outcome of last week’s state Supreme Court election. Wisconsin voters’ choice of Susan Crawford over Brad Schimel, the candidate backed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, was obviously a huge morale boost for this crowd.

“You’re from Wisconsin? Thank you!,” said Deborah Vilcheck from Chester, Connecticut, who was standing next to me in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at one point. She told me she had written 100 postcards and participated in a phone bank to support Crawford.

On my way into the rally, I chatted with two employees, Susan and Carolyn, from the imperiled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When they learned I had come from Wisconsin, they hugged me. “The victory of Susan Crawford shows Elon Musk can’t buy elections,” Carolyn said. Perhaps with Musk in mind, the two asked that I not use their last names. “We don’t want to get fired on Monday,” Susan said.

Overhearing our conversation, Carolyn Katz from Maryland shouted, “We love Wisconsin! We’re so glad you couldn’t be bought.” Passerby Liz Dietrich from Charlottesville chimed in, “Yay, Wisconsin! Thank you for not going with the richest man in the world.”

As a solo traveler to the event, I chatted with a couple dozen strangers who all extolled what they viewed as the wisdom of Wisconsin voters. But while talk of Crawford’s win brought smiles and participants were peaceful and polite, the prevailing mood at the event was a combination of outrage and sadness.

Staged at the epicenter of the nation’s government, the protest brought together thousands of people who had lost their jobs or expected to be unemployed soon. Thousands more, including what seemed to be equal parts aging baby boomers and younger folks, carried mostly handmade signs with popular messages including “Fight fascism,” “Hands off my Social Security” and “Deport Elon Musk.”

I started my walk to the rally with several people who lost their jobs last month when the Trump Administration shut down USAID, the nation’s foreign aid agency. One of them, Van Credle, said agents showed up and gave employees 15 minutes to pack up personal possessions and leave the building. On their way out, several employees tried to take pictures of a memorial wall listing USAID workers who had been killed on assignment. But guards prevented them from stopping, Credle said.

“Russell Vought (the new head of the Office of Management and Budget) told a congressional committee, ‘We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,’ Credle added. “He’s getting his wish.”

People have asked why I decided to go to Washington DC when I could have attended a rally in Milwaukee or Madison. I don’t have a history of doing this kind of thing. I’ve never belonged to a political party and have voted for both Democrats and Republicans in the past. Before Trump’s arrival on the scene, I wasn’t very active politically. But things are different now. I wanted to be part of the biggest protest in the country against the gross undermining of the U.S. Constitution by the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans. I’m thrilled so many people turned out for the concurrent protests in some 1,300 cities across the country. And I’m grateful I was able to represent Wisconsin in Washington.

Anne Curley is a former journalist and PR consultant.