More than 1,000 people packed into Hinds Plaza on Saturday for a ”Hands Off!” protest against the Trump administration, joining millions of others nationwide. Approximately 30 students attended a rally organized by Sunrise Princeton starting in Firestone Plaza, eventually joining the main event in town. Attendees at the campus rally expressed concern about a range of recent issues such as funding cuts to the University and deportations of international students, among other threats, with speakers urging protesters to “be loud on behalf of our international friends who are facing threats.”
Some protesters said they were grateful that Princeton has so far stood against Trump’s funding cuts, but they also expressed skepticism that the University would be willing to do more.
“We also must recognize that Princeton is not going to save us,” said Kristin Nagy ’27, an organizer for Students for Prison Education, Abolition and Reform.
The students then marched through East Pyne and made their way to the town, where hundreds of others had gathered. This larger protest was emceed by Laura Zurfluh of Indivisible Cranbury. The protest featured Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12); Reverend Bob Moore, the executive director of Coalition for Peace Action; NJ Senator Andrew Zwicker; Assemblyman Roy Freiman; and Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis, as well as various representatives of local activist groups.
Attendees cited a multitude of reasons for showing up: Elon Musk and DOGE’s large-scale layoffs, the kneecapping of the Department of Education, the arrests and deportations of immigrants by ICE, the overhaul of social security, the administration’s recent tariffs, Trump’s attacks on NPR and PBS, and more.
The protestors held signs that ranged from “hands off our neighbors” to “only you can fight fascism,” “Down with DOGE,” “mass deportation is a crime against humanity! Fuck I.C.E.!” “Dissent is patriotic,” and “Dear Lord, please take the Sharpie away from him.”
New Jersey Senator Andrew Zwicker said in a speech that the administration is failing to uphold the Constitution.
“We refuse to let them make a mockery of our Constitution. We refuse to let them go after freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of love. After the Fourth Amendment, the 14th Amendment, we refuse to let them take people off the streets without due process, different skin color, who were born in a different country,” he said.
Gary Pearsall, another attendee of the rally, said that he was politically active in high school, but hadn’t since then been motivated to come to a rally until recently, when he was angered by the actions of the administration.
“I’ve watched the ebbs and flows over the decades,” Pearsall said. “The right has gotten to a point where they are unwilling to lose and … they’re ready to take it all by force and shove their vision of what the United States should be down everyone else’s throat.”
Pearshall added that he would like his grandchildren to “grow up in the same country [he] did.”
The protest emphasized the importance of elevating younger voices. Gregory Stankiewicz GS ’05, the statewide coordinator for the New Jersey Community Schools Coalition, said that “the target of the [Trump administration] is our children and young adults.”
“We stand instead in the rich American tradition of seeing education as a way of binding all of us together, of preparing our children for the future, as a way of strengthening America.”
Assemblyman Roy Freiman, the deputy majority leader, spoke about the harms of research funding cuts.
“Princeton University, right across the street, is under threat and is being punished by Trump because they believe in free speech … Trump has stopped cancer research right here in New Jersey because he does not agree with universities,” Freiman said.
Amy Torres, a speaker at the protest, commended New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour filibuster protesting Trump and his administration. Her comment prompted chants of “Cory” among the crowd of protesters.
Mary Delia, an attendee of the protest, noted she was “inspired by Cory Booker.”
“I really do believe that we needed that moment in time to light a fire under people,” Delia said.
She noted that protests are important for engaging others in a political cause. “If having a protest like this and seeing this many people inspires more people to get out, then I feel like we’ve served a purpose from being here.”
Another attendee, Chris Delaney, went to the protest because Trump is “destroying our democracy.” She stressed the importance of Medicare and Social Security, which 71.6 million people rely on in the United States.
Delaney went to the rally with her sister, Maria Lombardi. The protest was Lombardi’s first, and she told the ‘Prince’ she was motivated to come out to the protest after seeing information about it online.
The final speaker of the rally was Watson Coleman, the representative for Princeton, N.J. She opened with a focus on women’s rights by stating that she should be able to “make decisions for [her] own body.”
“This is the most corrupt and incompetent administration in my lifetime,” Coleman said.
When looking back to when President Trump entered office on Jan. 21, Coleman said she believed the nation back then was in a moment of uncertainty.
“We’re no longer in that moment. We’re in a movement.”
Christopher Bao is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Princeton, N.J. and typically covers town politics and life.
Clara Docherty is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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