Anti-Trump Protesters At FL Park Denounce Immigration, Tariffs, Abortion, LGBTQ+ Actions

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — About a thousand people gathered at Williams Park and in surrounding blocks, waving signs and protesting actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration, on Saturday afternoon as part of a Day of Action protest organized by Pinellas County National Organization for Women (NOW).

The protest came two weeks after about 4,500 gathered downtown for the April 5 Women Rise Up St. Pete protest on 21 downtown corners, Amy Weintraub, who organized that event for NOW, told Patch.

The protests are “against the assault on our country and Constitution … solidarity with sister events being held across the nation on … (that day) to defend our freedoms, our rights, and our future,” according to the Facebook event page. “When those in power try to silence us, we rise louder. When they attack our communities, we fight back — together.”

Weintraub said she expects turnout to continue growing at future protests.

“I am very, very gratified about the level of support the resistance is attracting,” she said. “Trump’s not gonna stop. He’s going to continue doing outrageous things. The worse it gets, the more people are going to turn out.”

Those attending Saturday’s events carried signs targeting a range of issues — immigration, Social Security and Medicare benefits, abortion access, tariffs, LGBTQ+ rights and billionaire and DOGE head Elon Musk’s role in the president’s administration among them.

“The collective feelings of unrest and frustration toward our current administration is what drew me to the protest,” Jameka Williams of St. Petersburg told Patch. “I refuse to shout into the voice of social media when there are meaningful acts that I have the ability to be a part of happening all around me. This moment in all its good, bad and ugly will undoubtedly be cemented in history and I want to be on the right side of it and be able to say that when the time came, I did something that mattered.”

Julie Del Cueto of St. Petersburg told Patch she’s concerned about Trump’s disregard for the Constitution and checks and balances.

“We’re witnessing the crippling of checks and balances, a complete disregard for our Constitution with zero repercussions,” she said. “Trump is disregarding court rulings. He’s overreaching his power with executive orders that would not hold up in court. He’s setting tariffs without any real strategy or planning that are meant to be set by Congress. It’s scary. I don’t know what else to do but share our reactions loud and often.”

Karen, a Seminole resident attending the protest, told Patch, “It’s our last chance to save our democracy. You can look at all the different issues, but it all boils down to: we’re in a moment right now that’s important and we need to do something."

NOW has seen an uptick in the number of protesters attending such events in recent months, Weintraub said. “In the past, typically, we get about 50 and 100.”

A Jan. 22 Roe v. Wade Commemoration/Reproductive Freedom Visibility event and a March 8 International Women’s Day sign waving event each drew more than 1,000 people.

“I knew that we had the capacity in this age of discord to really attract a much more significant number for visibility events,” Weintraub said.