With signs reading “Hands off Social Security,” “Who elected Elon?” and “I’m the good trouble,” protesters met Saturday afternoon, April 5, in Beaverton to voice displeasure over President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, a billionaire who has been at the president’s side in the early weeks of the Trump administration.

The protest in the shadows of the Beaverton City Library is one of over 800 protests taking place across the United States as part of the “Hands Off” series of demonstrations, with more than 40 of them taking place in Oregon in urban and rural communities, including Tigard, Forest Grove and North Plains in Washington County alone.

According to organizers, the large turnout nationwide stems from discontent with Trump’s policies, including the federal budget, immigration and the Department of Government Efficiency, which is headed by Musk under the acronym DOGE.

An estimated 5,000 people attended the event, with a steady stream of honking horns greeting protesters near the library. Among the participants at the rally was Sandy Ellis from Rock Creek.

“I’m glad to see everybody standing up for problems that Trump and his administration are causing,” she said. “I think the biggest threat to American jobs and economic prosperity right now is Trump and Musk and all of their policies that they’re putting in place.”

Her husband, Steve Ellis, had similar concerns: “I think we’re all so outraged that we just don’t know where to begin.”

Ben Brisson of Beaverton said the future of Social Security is one of the reasons he attended the demonstration, among other planned spending cuts.

“I’m here to protest with all these good people,” Brisson said. “I haven’t seen a good move; I’ve never seen him (Trump) talk about the middle class. They’re taking food banks away.”

“I’m here to save our democracy and stop Elon Musk and give people back their jobs,” Linda Brisson said over the noise of nearby honking horns. “They didn’t vote him in and he needs to, possibly, leave our country with his Teslas.”

Nationwide, the protests saw significant turnout, with organizers estimating participation in the hundreds of thousands, marking one of the largest protest movements of Trump’s presidency.

Of the local protest, Lisa Lowell of Beaverton said, ”This is an awesome turnout. I’m so proud of everyone. I am just in disbelief that we have to do this to make a change.”

Monty Knudsen of Beaverton cited a number of concerns as reason to protest Saturday, including the onslaught against the news media by the Trump administration.

“My concerns about this administration are the loss in the free press, the reduction in our science capabilities and loss of things like public television, where you get actual facts and things like that,” Knudsen said. “All the cuts to the federal agencies, and to other programs, they’re all part of this whole scheme that I think they’re foisting on us.”

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici was among the slew of elected leaders who spoke at the demonstration.

“We are sending a message, a message to Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the DOGE musketeers….keep your hands off the federal employees, keep your hands off the Department of Education,” Bonamici said. “You probably heard, Elon Musk said that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Elon Musk, get your hands off Social Security.”

Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai, who also spoke during the protest, said the United States is “witnessing a wave of fear-based policies threatening our freedom, our dignity and our future.”

“They can issue executive orders, we raise our voices louder,” Fai said.

Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty said, “What we’re seeing from this administration is not about efficiency, it’s about erasing us and erasing our rights, silencing our voices and consolidating power for themselves.”

She added, “As somebody who is raising two daughters, I refuse to let them and the daughters of Beaverton grow up with less power than I did.”