Demonstrators from all 50 states have been gathering in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, in opposition to his sweeping agenda.
The 50501 Movement organized its first protest on February 5th, and has been organizing more demonstrations ever since. On Tuesday afternoon, a few dozen protesters gathered in front of the Quentin Burdick Federal Courthouse in downtown Fargo. They carried signs displaying messages in opposition to Trump, Republicans and Elon Musk, and in support of Ukraine.
Wendy Hoff is one of the group’s organizers. She, her husband Judd, and a Fargo resident named Kim all agree now is the time to speak up.
"Our government is not without its faults," Wendy Hoff says. "They're going to rip it apart, they're going to say it's not able to be fixed, and then they're going to give it over to a billionaire for it to get streamlined. That's not how it works."
Her husband Judd agrees. "It also reminds me of George Orwell; you get simple minded people repeating simple phrases, and that's supposed to be their logic. And they do that to disrupt the dialogue and the narrative, they'll come up with things like 'lock her up,' you'll be having a meaningful conversation and they'll just start chanting 'lock them up.' It's like the chickens in Orwell's Animal Farm, they're just trained to disrupt the meaningful discourse of a democracy. That's what they're doing. So we have to kind of descend to their level at this point in time, and get a bit raucous and loud and belligerent so we can match their energy, and be heard."
Kim held her sign up. "My sign says, 'you are public servants, not corporate reps. Stop the hostile takeover.' It's never been okay with Americans for corporations to be in government, and I don't know why anyone would think that's okay now! This is madness!"
Judd Hoff says regular demonstrations are being put together for the foreseeable future.