Originally posted by Yakima Herald-Republic / Written by Sara Rea Shields / Photo by Evan Abell
Protesters and demonstrators gathered across the country Saturday, proclaiming April 5, 2025, as a National Day of Action.
Yakima was part of that action.
As part of Saturday’s national Hands Off! demonstrations, people from all over the Yakima Valley lined up along the western edge of Chesterley Park on 40th Avenue, shoulder to shoulder, two to three people deep from River Road to Castlevale Road. Organizers estimated the crowd at more than 1,300.
Signs demanded that President Donald Trump, his administration and Trump ally Elon Musk keep their hands off democracy, health care, data, jobs, services and neighbors.
In the crowd were “people that have real concerns about what’s happening to democracy, to agencies that help people that need it, a lot of people feel like our government isn’t serving them, that it’s working against them,” said Susan Hahn, a Yakima County resident and retired Yakima County Superior Court judge. “It shouldn’t be that way.”
The Hands Off protests were intended to be peaceful demonstrations and Hahn said they weren’t meant to be political.
“Today is nonpartisan,” Hahn said. “We’re hoping to reach out to everybody. I think you’ll see that it’s pretty hard for people not to have some common ground with all the issues. Even if you’re a very conservative person, and a lot of people here are, but their rights and agencies have served them are also being threatened. This is a wide group of people that just finally said ‘it’s time that we have to do something, we can’t be quiet.’”
Pleas to protect science, women’s health, veterans and LGBTQIA+ rights, Medicare and Medicaid, national forests, education, Social Security and more filled signs among waving American flags, some upside down, implying the country is in distress.
Horns honked up and down 40th Avenue, showing solidarity with the demonstrators. Smaller American flags flew out of car windows.
No counterprotesters were in attendance but a few shouts from cars cheered Trump’s name and booed those holding Pride, Palestinian, Ukrainian, Mexican and Canadian flags and signs
Demonstrators responded with smiles and gleeful cheers of “We’re here for you too!” as motorists continued on their route.
“Little towns, big towns, it’s a real big deal,” Hahn said of the turnout. “It’s particularly important to the people here in Yakima, because we don’t want to speak to the crowd anymore. We’re not singing to the choir. We need to reach out to people that are starting to understand that things are falling apart, and really our only weapon against this is our voices.”
People are using their voices and speaking up for democracy and the United States, said David Hacker, a Union Gap resident and priest at St. Michael’s Episcopal Mission in Yakima.
“There’s hundreds here from different organizations, a lot of folks from the community, individuals who are coming out,” Hacker said. “We care about democracy, are committed to people living in fear right now, and we are standing in solidarity with folks that are in fear, that are in need, those worried about their Medicare and Medicaid and the environment. The list is endless right now, and important issues to so many people are on the chopping block right now.”
The Hands Off demonstrators are fed up, Hacker said, and today’s protests were energized and seeking justice for everyone, in the Yakima Valley and beyond.
“We’re thankful for everybody that’s come out,” Hacker said. “I think we need to keep mobilizing and keep working together to be a common voice, standing to resist all that is seeking to tear down so much good in our country.”
Paul Tabayoyon, community outreach coordinator for the Yakima Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, called Yakima’s turnout impressive.
“As someone who works in the nonprofit realm here in Yakima, we’re just super excited that so many people would be willing to come out today and have a voice,” Tabayoyon said. “When you give them an opportunity, this is what happens — community organizing and power building to work across cultural and political spaces.”
Tabayoyon hopes Saturday was just the start of things to come.
“Our politicians don’t always listen to individuals in the community. They only listen to organizations or business entities” Tabayoyon said. “So, if it means more organizing to have a stronger voice, then that’s something that Yakima needs to really begin focusing more on.”
Feeling abandoned by the current administration, Yakima resident Ruby Marsh came out to fight for herself and her neighbors.
“I was gonna take the chance,” Marsh said. “I said I’m gonna come out to see everybody out here, from all walks of life. It was a great cross section of Yakima all willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with other people for all our rights.”
As a trans woman, Marsh attended the Hands Off demonstration not just to defend her access to gender-affirming medications, but to defend the rights of senior citizens, veterans, women and others.
“Today’s turnout was really heartwarming,” Marsh said. “It gave me hope that our country’s not dead yet, and that if we fight, we can get it back and make it a better world.”
Seeing the size of the protest made Marsh realize she’s not alone in this fight and the community needs to stand together more.
“I want to encourage more people to come out to the next demonstration,” Marsh said. “Our constitution says we have the right to protest, we have the right to free speech, and that can’t die.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with a correction. Susan Hahn retired from the Yakima County Superior Court.
