At least 10,000 rallied against Trump at Tampa Bay "Hands Off!" protests
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One of the street corners in downtown St. Pete where demonstrators gathered for a local "Hands Off!" rally. Photo: Kathryn Varn/Axios
An estimated 10,000 people from Brooksville to Sarasota turned out for Tampa Bay's Hands Off! anti-Trump protests on Saturday, according to crowd estimates from police and organizers.
Why it matters: The turnout shows momentum among Tampa Bay's progressive and Democratic minority and suggests that Florida's political landscape is more complex than its deep-red election results.
State of play: About 3,000 people turned out on street corners in downtown St. Petersburg, police said, while another 500 people gathered less than five miles away in Gulfport.
- At least 1,000 people waved signs at McMullen Booth Road and State Road 580, Indivisible North Pinellas organizer Phil Stone told Axios. (Clearwater police estimated "hundreds" but didn't have a more-exact number, a spokesperson said.)
- Across the bay in Tampa, about 1,200 demonstrators convened at City Hall, according to police.
Yes, but: Demonstrations also cropped up in redder areas outside of Tampa Bay's major cities.
By the numbers: MAGA stronghold Sarasota saw the biggest turnout, with 2,500-3,000 demonstrators estimated at the downtown waterfront, according to police. A Sarasota Herald-Tribune report put the number even higher, at nearly 5,000.
- Another 700 people gathered at University Town Center, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
- More than 1,000 more people turned out in smaller demonstrations in Pasco County, Bradenton, Lakeland and Brooksville, according to organizers, police and media reports.
The scene: Demonstrators carried signs with messages like, "Impeach Trump Arrest Musk," "Hands off my Social Security" and "No king, no fascist, no more." Some hoisted American and Progress Pride flags.
- "I had never done this before, if you can believe that. I'll be 71 this year. That's how important it is to me," St. Pete protest participant Pam Eberle told Mother Jones.
The big picture: Millions of people turned out to more than 1,100 rallies, visibility events and meetings organized in all 50 states, organizers said.
What they're saying: Democrats in Florida and beyond at first felt despair over Trump's victory and disagreement over how to address it, said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett.
- "But now that Trump has been in office for a few months and Elon Musk has been his right-hand man, I think a lot of Democrats finally realized … that they actually need to show up at events and get people to realize that not everyone is on board," Jewett said.
Zoom in: Stone, the Indivisible North Pinellas organizer, has seen that energy firsthand. More than 200 people showed up for the chapter's most-recent meeting, up from just 30 a few months ago, he said.
- And dozens of new chapters of Indivisible, a grassroots progressive movement that began organizing during the first Trump administration, have popped up in Florida, he said.
- "We're all addressing the challenges posed by rapid growth," he said. "There's momentum for sure."