Protesters hug, chant, wave at counter protesters and act “square” at huge Fort Bragg protest

As “Hands Off” protest crowds in all 50 states and more than 1200 locales swelled beyond expectations, Coast residents gathered as Mendocino Indivisible under sunny skies to protest federal cuts to everything rural, low-income and senior people depend on, from Medicare to feeding programs. 

Over 1000 demonstrators (according to this reporter’s effort at grid counting)  filled both sides of Main Street  around Fort Bragg Town Hall on Saturday.  Contrary to false rumors being spread around Fort Bragg, there was no intentional blocking of the highway. In fact, Mendocino Indivisible organizers had people on each street corner who demanded that people stay off the road and keep crossings clear. A ferocious Carol Becker was not to be disobeyed when she demanded people stay out of the street.

“In Fort Bragg today we had a beautiful heartfelt protest today against the Trump policies and quite illegal actions as of late. Hundreds of original signs and banners, no two alike, attended  by  our community members. It was very successful and I think the 1000 estimate is correct,” said Gary Moraga of Albion.

There was good reason why the signs were all unique. The protesters came with different agendas, but the same cause of opposing massive cuts to all social services, while also planning a 2 trillion tax cut that benefits mostly the wealthy. This reporter asked 15 different people why they had come out and got 14 different answers.

To say there was no violence would also be an understatement. The hugs outnumbered the F bombs two to one. There was a pinch of visible anger, a quart of frustration, and ten gallons of socializing and laughing. Some came with a bullhorn to lead chants and songs, which often started out as strident chants for the ouster of Trump and evolved into something of a high school pep rally celebrating this community. In fact, many of these folks grew up here and went to local high schools. 

The rally was billed as possibly dangerous. There were security warnings issued prior to the nationwide protest and predictions of violence by right-wing media. The protest in Fort Bragg had no real edge. Many people hoped for reconciliation, not fighting with those who disagree.

“We can decide to focus on liking each other and that will help us keep liking each other. Cool brain hack with big implications,” said Dr. Jennifer Kreger, who added to the fun with signs that formed a jingle and informed people that red and blue were both needed in medicine.

A few Trump supporters showed up, and they too were polite. A man on a motorcycle with a sign supporting Musk and Trump smiled, waved and flashed peace signs at the crowd as he went back and forth. Most people waved back. Another conservative local man had heard rumors on social media that protesters were being bussed in. He found he knew much of the crowd and dropped the bussing notion but engaged in debate with passing Trump critics.

The big peaceful crowd attracted a cacophony of honks. Oddly, State Route 1, also named Main Street, had bumper-to-bumper traffic from well before the protest began until at least an hour afterwards. This may have created the false rumor that protesters were blocking traffic. Indivisible Mendocino protesters formed a solid line to keep people out of the road. This reporter broke that line to get some photos and I was followed by a man who was staying at the Harbor Lite Lodge and stopped in astonishment at the protest, then got stuck in the crowd,. We were only in the road for 30 seconds, and there was plenty of room to pass when a man in a huge pickup screamed, “get out of the road, you mother (truckers).”  The other guy scurried off but I took a few more photos. GEEZ. I didn’t see anybody else in the road except when the huge crowds would surge across Laurel Street, then people would get backed up in the road briefly despite the best efforts of Mendocino Indivisible monitors.

One government employee I know told me nightmare stories about huge waste being created by DOGE firing people, hiring them back and forcing people back to the office who never had an office. I have confirmed these stories. DOGE fired people solely based on AI readings of activities like how often people were signed into their computer, unaware that many people use offline Ipads.

All over town, people were curious as to what the protests were about. That was a very hard question for me to answer for conservative friends. There was no central theme, other than a very conservative one- slow down and “hands off” 

But hands off what?

There were people there protesting genocide in Gaza who always show up for that issue. Trump has continued American policies that President Biden had, while greatly expanding the American alliance with Israel. People in the USA who have criticized Israel are being deported.

 There were LGBQIA people upset about President Trump’s declaration of two genders. There were nurses, doctors and other medical workers most concerned about cuts Trump and Musk have made to Social Security (offices and programs so far) and Veterans Affairs.  There were many people seeking community unity. Others were most worried about the class war the wealthy are waging on the working class and the poor. Another group was focused on what they believe to be illegal deportations. There were American flags upside down and right side up. I talked to a woman who thinks Trump is great but thinks Musk is a “slimeball” and fool who is costing the government 100x more than he is saving with DOGE. She said he was out to make money and destroy Trump’s good efforts. She was furious at the upside-down flags as she carried a sign that said “Fire Greedlon”

Probably the thing that scared the most people is cuts to social security, combined with Trump’s unpredictability.

“I’m doing this because I want to see this administration keep their hands off my social security and health benefits,” said Rob Love.

“I’m like a lot of people on social security, I depend on it to help pay my bills, eat, and have a somewhat comfortable life. I’m 64 now and getting to the age where age discrimination comes into play in the job market, and as I have some health issues not able to maintain the same working vigor I had when I was younger.”

Four people who were asked for a quote refused to give their names for fear of reprisals

Love was willing to use his name anyway.

“I’m definitely afraid of reprisals, especially when I see the administration hauling people away for criticizing Israel for example. I know that Trump is well aware these protests will take place as they will be nationwide. I also feel that the spirit of these protests are much more unifying. I participated in the BLM protests, and the kids in cages protests, but they were not quite as unifying as these protests involve actions which affect everyone, Love said

He said the fact so many people are scared about so many things has brought people together.

“The administration continues day in and day out to do executive orders, and cut this and cut that which is terrifying people. The tarrifs are causing our economy to collapse and people are realizing how this is going to affect them. Trump is well aware of these protests and I am curious how he will respond. Hopefully not with fury, he always wants to protect his ego.”

The event was organized by Indivisible Mendocino. Organizer Cynthia Gair was delighted at the peaceful and even jovial tone amid sunny skes and hot weather (for Fort Bragg) of 60 degrees.

“What a great spirited, peaceful, good-natured and determined showing from our wonderful community!,” Gair said.

Working upstairs at Triangle Tattoo, this reporter completed grid counts. There were 250-325 people at the peak on the north side of Laurel Street. There were 600- 700 people packing the sidewalks, the Guest House lawn and street edges between Laurel and Redwood Streets. There were 50-100 people north of Laurel Street and more people on side streets. About 10 percent of the crowd were just passing through, perhaps more. The vast majority of the crowd were local people.

This was no 1960s protest party. There were far more American flags than tie dye and very very few people made a visible effort to stand out or do anything that might offend conservative people. Dresses, skirts, jewelry, leather, and sandals were nowhere to be seen. The universal dress code was baggy androgynous clothes and sneakers.  But many oldsters who did protest and dance and protest with flar were there, along with a sizeable chunk of a younger generation who would never dress or act like that.  There was no whiff of cannabis as there likely would have been in the glory days of Mendocino protests and not even funky incense has survived to 2025.

Various news reports say the protests across the nation were bigger than expected, but none of the stories estimaged how may people had participated across the nation. The New York Times said 600,000 people had signed up to participate and the number was likely much larger than that. There were no reports of violence in other parts of the nation. in the news accounts

This Scotsman in his kilt with his white terrier was one of few who broke the universal dress code at the event.