Hands Off local county events:
CHARLOTTE —10 to 11:30 a.m.
Intersection is U.S. 41 and Murdock Circle
COLLIER — 2 to 5 p.m.
Court House, 3315 Tamiami Trail (meet and park). Walk to nearby Airport Road and U.S. 41 intersections
LEE (Two events)
Fort Myers — 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
East side of U.S. 41 and Cypress Lake/Daniels Parkway. Park near Lonestar or at Bell Tower.
Cape Coral — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Outside U.S. Rep Byron Donalds' office, 1039 SE 9th Ave.
SARASOTA — 2 to 5 p.m.
Bayfront Park (5 Bayfront Drive)
Nationwide demonstrations against a wide assortment of President Trump-administration policies are expected to be the largest single-day protests since the president came back to power in January.
Tariffs; threats to Social Security and veterans’ benefits; the shunning of Ukraine and possible invasion of Greenland and Panama; and mass layoffs and firings of the federal workforce have mobilized many across the country.
More than 1,000 “Hands Off” rallies are scheduled across the U.S. and in D.C. Saturday morning and afternoon.
Organizers say some 250,000 have RSVPed for the various rallies as of March 29.
Nationwide Hands Off rallies are organized routinely. Charter busses will be bringing masses to the nation's Capital Saturday.
In Southwest Florida there will be demonstrations in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.
In what is considered Republican-dominated Collier County, close to 1,000 people have signed up to participate, said Paul Stephens, a resident and member of the county's Democratic party.
He said momentum is growing in Collier County: First with a large presence at a recent rally in support of Ukraine and then two weeks ago when some 250 Republican-leaning veterans gathered to demonstrate at a Hands Off rally over cuts to veterans' services.
"This is not a divisive thing," Stephens said. "This is a patriotic thing. We have to correct the problems of the Trump administration before they're not able to be corrected."
Stephens, a veteran, said he hopes to see many American flags at Saturday's demonstration in Collier. The flag, like the Republican Party under Ronald Reagan, he said, has been hijacked by the far right wing of the party and he said it was time to take both back.
"We're very worried about people who depend on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid," he said. "We're very worried about national security — and it's slipping away.
"We're worried about cozying up to dictators. Why we're making enemies out of our democratic allies? I mean, these are really serious things that will affect America for decades to come, if we cannot correct them."
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