Protesters gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, as part of a national push to show displeasure with the administration of President Donald Trump. Protests also happened in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as across the country.
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
Protesters gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, as part of a national push to show displeasure with the administration of President Donald Trump. Protests also happened in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as across the country.
More than 300 people marched to the Pennsylvania Capitol Monday to protest President Donald Trump’s administration. The protests were organized on social media and took place nationwide.
“The point of the protest is to try to unite as many people as possible to make sure our elected officials know what the people are looking for and to make our voices heard and to limit executive overreach,” said Cristin Wormuth, a social worker from Scranton and one of the protest organizers.
She’s a volunteer with 50501, a grassroots effort that started on Reddit in February. The name comes from 50 states, 50 capitals, one protest. The organization issued a press release calling for Trump’s removal from office, a reversal of most of his policies to-date and “mass investigations” into his political appointees. The group’s first national protest was on Feb. 5.
How Wormuth got involved demonstrates the power of social media as a tool for organizing protest movements. She learned about 50501 from watching a video on TikTok, which she followed to a Reddit page that connected her to organizers on another social networking platform called Discord.
Monday’s march in Harrisburg started on City Island. As they marched to the Capitol and stood on the steps, protesters’ chants targeted Trump and his administration, with cries of “Musk must go,” “Arrest Donald Trump,” “Tax the rich,” “Stop the coup,” “No kings, no tyrants,” “Gulf of Mexico,” “Stop the DOGE,” “Protect our data,” “My body my choice,” “Immigrants are welcome here” and “Separate church and state.”
Wormuth said the protest was not partisan and was for all Americans. Protesters also directed ire at Democratic lawmakers for not doing enough to resist Trump’s administration. They chanted, “Do your job” and “Where are the Congresspeople.”
Savannah Bellem is the local organizer for 50501. A resident of Cumberland County, she said she is a Pennsylvania Air National Guardsman who served with the Air Force right out of high school, motivated by the Sept. 11 attacks. Her motivation for serving in the military is the same that prompted her to help organize the march, she said.
“It’s defending freedom home and abroad. It’s not a pick and choose kind of thing,” Bellem said.
She organized both the Feb. 5 and Feb. 17 protests in Harrisburg, saying the one on Presidents Day was several times larger.
Democratic state Reps. Dave Madsen of Dauphin County and Nikki Rivera of Lancaster County spoke to the crowd about the importance of contacting state lawmakers in addition to voicing concerns to Congress.
Jordan Wilkie / WITF News
State Rep. Dave Madsen, D-Dauphin, encouraged protesters to pressure their state-level lawmakers, especially Republicans in the state Senate, to add civil rights protections to state law. Rep. Nikki Rivera, D-Lancaster, in blue, also spoke at the protest outside the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.
Rivera, elected in November, spoke in favor of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s initiatives and said pressuring state-level elected officials filters up to the federal government.
“I’m here to show support for our state because we are under attack,” she said. “We often think that federal government issues will stay in D.C. but here they are in our own backyard.”
Rivera says directives from Trump are affecting people in her district.
She highlighted fears in the immigrant community, discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and funding cuts to medical research and refugee resettlement.
Republican lawmakers remain solidly behind Trump. In Sunday’s LNP | LancasterOnline, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker defended the work of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, asking rhetorically: “Why would anyone oppose efforts to streamline government operations, root out waste and improve efficiency? After all, similar initiatives under President Clinton did not generate this level of resistance.”
“I am grateful that we have a president willing to challenge the status quo,” Smucker wrote, “one who works with Congress to: grow the economy; unleash American energy dominance; reduce burdensome regulations; and identify cost-saving measures through DOGE.”
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
