Automobile horns repeatedly blared in downtown Los Gatos as a whole lot of individuals with indicators criticizing Donald Trump’s presidency lined the sidewalk by the city plaza for a Could Day rally.
In some nations Could 1 is named Worldwide Labor Day and noticed as a public vacation honoring labor. However this 12 months communities throughout the U.S. marked the day by demonstrating opposition to Trump’s insurance policies in opposition to immigrants, federal staff and variety applications.
Collectively We Will/Indivisible-Los Gatos rally organizer Marsha Palitz-Elliott helped coordinate the protest with the aim of making a secure house for folks to share their considerations in regards to the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s function in authorities. Between 250 and 300 folks confirmed up with handcrafted indicators calling out a number of points, together with deportations, wealth inequality and reproductive rights.
Los Gatos resident Kristine Kasten, 75, mentioned the protest was not too totally different from those she participated in as a university pupil within the Sixties, minus the violent suppression. Kasten mentioned protests in opposition to the Vietnam Battle touched on the identical points that also reverberate within the current. She mentioned got here to the Could Day rally in assist of labor unions, revenue equality and girls’s reproductive rights, which she fought for within the ’60s and noticed reversed in 2022.
“This is important to show up for my own sanity and coping, as well as just for others, to make it known that it’s important that we strive to change things for the better,” Kasten mentioned.
Palitz-Elliott mentioned lots of the Trump administration’s threats to Social Safety, well being care and immigration may have an effect on Los Gatos residents. In accordance with the U.S. Census Bureau, one-fifth of the city’s inhabitants is 65 and older.
“We have older people in town, so Social Security is an issue. What’s happening with healthcare is an issue,” Palitz-Elliot mentioned.
Don Thomas, a 77-year-old Saratoga resident, got here out to protest the GOP’s anti-science platform. He mentioned he disagreed with lots of Trump’s insurance policies attributable to considerations about human rights and rule of regulation, however he admonished the administration’s ignorance of local weather change, which he known as an “existential problem.”
Thomas mentioned his participation on the rally was additionally private, as his son, a Montana State College pupil, was denied a analysis grant from the U.S. Division of Agriculture that had beforehand been accredited, which may have an effect on his work determining how algae is perhaps used for biofuel.
Bay Space residents additionally confirmed concern for the way in which Trump’s insurance policies may have an effect on these exterior the area. Karla Albright, co-founder of Collectively We Will/Indivisible-Los Gatos, mentioned the group was fashioned about eight years in the past to canvass neighborhoods and lift cash to encourage folks to vote in opposition to Trump. The group additionally does political motion work within the Central Valley, and Palitz-Elliott mentioned, “Even if we do not have immigrants who are being kidnapped by our government, we care deeply about that.”
Avani Hirway, a 53-year-old resident from San Jose’s Almaden Valley, mentioned she was upset by Trump’s tariffs on different nations and the funding freeze on the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) and Nationwide Institutes of Well being. USAID is liable for offering international civilian assist and growth to different nations. The Nationwide Institutes of Well being fund medical analysis to assist enhance Individuals’ well being and longevity.
Hirway mentioned with the ability to draw comparisons between Trump’s insurance policies and the conservative affect of the fundamentalist Hindu authorities in her native India impressed her to come back to the rally and voice her displeasure with the Trump administration.
“If we don’t fight, who’s going to do it for us?” Hirway mentioned. “It’s our response, and we’re going to fight for the right thing.”
Amid the chattering crowds and drum beats, a boy chased his father across the nook of the plaza.
Tim Crane, 37, from Mountain View, held an indication criticizing the financial inequality within the U.S. as his son chased him across the plaza. He mentioned he got here to the protest to voice his unhappiness with how society and the U.S. authorities are working. He mentioned he was most involved in regards to the unfair focus of wealth and energy within the U.S. A ProPublica report acknowledged that the 25 wealthiest Individuals solely paid a median of 15.8% in private federal revenue taxes between 2014 and 2018, a decrease fee a employee making $45,000 a 12 months may pay in taxes together with Medicare and Social Safety. In the meantime, the Financial Coverage Institute reported a rising hole between growing employee productiveness and stagnant wages.
Crane mentioned he needs to see the U.S. transfer towards extra equality and hopes his son will develop up with financial alternatives.
“When we see all this concentration, it hurts growth; it hurts technology; it hurts our kids; it hurts our families,” Crane mentioned.
Mountain View resident Tim Crane got here to the Could Day rally in Los Gatos, Calif., on Could 1, 2025 with an indication disparaging wealth inequality within the U.S., stemming from his concern that the problem might stifle financial alternatives for his son.
