On Feb. 22, hundreds of protestors rallied outside the Rhode Island State House against Elon Musk and the Trump administration.
The event, called “Fight Back & Give Back: R.I. Protects Our Own from Lawless Billionaires,” was organized by the organization Indivisible Rhode Island, along with several other local activist groups.
The aim of the event was to protest the “unlawful, heinous and disgusting takeover of our federal government,” Aseem Rastogi, the chair and lead organizer of Indivisible R.I., said in a speech at the rally. He and other speakers accused Musk of withholding millions in appropriated federal funds to Rhode Island.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
At the rally, Rep. Megan Cotter (D-Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond) called on state officials to raise taxes on those who make over $600,000 a year.
Recent changes in federal policy represent an “assault on working people,” Rep. David Morales MPA’19 (D-Providence) said in a speech. He said that the proposed cuts and work requirements in Congress to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid would ensure that the “most vulnerable have nothing left.”
Sen. Tiara Mack ’16 (D-Providence) also raised concerns about the impact of federal policy on homelessness in Rhode Island. Since the pandemic, there has been a 400% increase in people experiencing homelessness statewide since the pandemic, Mack said. She added that the current housing crisis will only be exacerbated by planned job cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The rich “don’t know what it’s like to work,” Mack said. She called for increased protections for unhoused citizens and “the most downtrodden Rhode Islanders.”
Organizers also collected monetary and physical donations for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. A press release from organizers stated that donations filled “six SUVs and trucks.”
Partway through the rally, about a dozen counter-protestors from a white nationalist group lined up by the train station, according to Rastogi. But the Providence police were able to peacefully “keep the two groups separate,” he said.
“It’s important that they have their voices heard,” Rastogi added. “But what we’re not going to do is negotiate with fascists.”
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel and the Rev. Alison Boden, two attendees, joined the Saturday rally because they “believe in democracy,” Kerbel said.
“I like that we were holding our democratic representatives in Rhode Island accountable, and not just giving them a pass,” he added.
The Saturday rally was nearly double the size of the first Indivisible rally, according to Lev Poplow, who works with Indivisible R.I. In the coming months, he is hopeful that the rallies will “get bigger and bigger.”
Clarification: This article has been updated to reflect the Brown class year of Rep. David Morales MPA’19 (D-Providence).
