By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — More than 1,000 people converged downtown Saturday morning to protest President Donald Trump’s policies.
The rally on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge, one of many “Hands Off” demonstrations spanning the nation, stretched along both sides of the Post Road bridge from Riverside Avenue to Main Street.
Bean Corcoran, a protest organizer from Weston, said she secured permission to use the bridge over the Saugatuck River — a traditional site of Westport rallies for decades — and that Saturday’s protest promised to be one of the largest ever with more than 750 registered in advance.
Corcoran said she helped organize the protest “for many, many reasons,” including the Trump administration decision to fire thousands of federal employees and to keep the government’s “hands off our bodies.”
Corcoran was one of several women with bull horns who led the crowd chanting a litany of things they want the Trump administration to stop doing.
The list was long, including: “Hands off Social Security,” “Hands off women’s rights,” “Hands off … civil rights, Medicare, the CDC, national parks, immigration, science” and more.
With each chant, the huge crowd shouted in unison, and cars passing through the rally on narrowed Post Road travel lanes honked horns continuously.
The “Hands Off” shouts were punctuated with other exclamations deriding Trump and his administration: “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go!” “No kings!” and “This is what democracy is like,” highlighting the power of protest.
Among those spotted at the rally were U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, state Attorney General William Tong, state Reps. Jonathan Steinberg of Westport and Savet Constantine, whose district includes Wilton and New Canaan, and Board of Education Chair Lee Goldstein.
“I’m resisting authoritarianism, suppression of free speech and of our constitutional democracy,” Goldstein said, adding, “Hands off our schools.”
Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.
Free speech is a beautiful thing. Westport has great traditions.
I knew I could count on Westport !!!! What a great place ! Filled with people who agree with me ! Here on Sanibel Island in Florida the weather was great but no protest. They like these clowns and their criminal actions.
I was so proud of Westport yesterday!
I know people from neighboring towns joined us – but I was literally expecting several dozen people and was gobsmacked by the crowds.
Over a thousand?! What a soul-satisfying turnout!
That show of solidarity … including all the cars who drove by honking their horns, putting their hands out their windows, thumbs up … gave me the first sense of hopefulness I’ve had since January 20th.
I’ve been hearing the question “What was the point?” on social media, and even in newscasts.
I saw a young boy holding a sign saying “Future voter … and I’m pissed.”
I saw a young girl holding a sign saying “The young are at the gates!”
And I stood next to a 75-year-old woman who confided in me that this was her first rally ever.
That’s how important this event was.
THAT was the point.