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BRATTLEBORO — Nearly 2,000 people turned out in the rain in downtown Brattleboro on Saturday to tell President Donald Trump "Hands Off" the U.S. Constitution and to listen to a handful of speakers urging them to get involved before it's too late.

"We have a president who has shown his pettiness and his vindictiveness from the moment he was sworn in," said Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., to a crowd gathered on Main Street in her hometown of Brattleboro. "We have seen him use the executive orders to violate the Constitution. We have seen this administration literally disappearing people off the street with no due process."

The rally was one of about 1,200 "Hands Off" rallies across the nation organized by more than 100 groups such as Indivisible Brattleboro, 5051, and Brattleboro Area Action. Similar rallies were held all over Vermont on Saturday, including Montpelier, Bellows Falls, Chester, Wilmington and Bennington.

PHOTOS: Hands Off Rally in Brattleboro

Balint spoke from the steps of Centre Congregational Church as people waving signs filled the courtyard, spilling out onto the sidewalk and across Main Street.

As Balint spoke, a light rain began.

"You are not alone," she said. "In this moment, we desperately need all of us to find our bravery and find our courage. And when we find that bravery, it shines a light for other people, and they find a little bit more courage, and they find a little bit more hope, and that's what we need right now."

Balint talked about how she understands many people are angry, anxious, and worried about the state of the nation as the current administration appears to be dismantling the federal government and threatening programs that support the most vulnerable people in our communities.

"And I know all too many folks are feeling paralyzed by the sheer number of things that are coming at us," she said. "I get it, I really do. But we can't let ourselves give in to paralysis. We can't let ourselves give in to that sense of hopelessness, because that's what they're counting on. ... I need a commitment from everyone right now. We have to learn what's happening and how we defeat it. And then we have to use our voices in places that are uncomfortable where you can't just talk to the people who agree with you ... Please show up in uncomfortable conversations with our families, with our friends, with our community members. Because it is not about left or right. It is not about Republican or Democrat. It is about our nation. It is about our democracy, and it takes all of us."

Balint also bemoaned her Republican colleagues in Congress "who are doing nothing about it" while Elon Musk has his hands "in every agency you can imagine."

"It is shocking. I never thought I would see that in my lifetime. So, look, they're gonna keep creating chaos. They're gonna keep driving the fear. That is the strategy. It is not an accident. But I need you. I need you to push through the fear. I need you to tap into your rage. I need you to tap into your rage and then turn that anger into commitment and focus. How are you showing up every day with these people who are trying to dismantle the democracy? I have turned my rage into a fierce focus, and I need all of you to do the same thing."

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Hundreds of people showed up to protest President Donald Trump at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro during a national "Hands Off" protest on Saturday, April 5, 2025.

And while she characterized the people appointed to cabinet positions as "entirely unqualified for the jobs that they hold," she singled out Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, for "meddling" in Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare.

"Laying off veterans, firing people who look after Ebola and the bird flu," said Balint. "It it is no mistake that we are feeling like they're actually trying to kill us. It sure feels that way."

But, said Balint, "We are winning in the courts. Time after time after time, these executive orders are being struck down. ... So don't let them convince you that they're going to win this. We have the power in our hands right now, and that's also why it's so important that we don't lose hope."

Balint urged the folks in the crowd to focus on one thing of most importance to them, whether that is fighting for veterans, Social Security, or due process.

"Together, we will cover all of the things we need to be focused on," she said, adding that while she is proud to be the state's sole representative in Washington, D.C., she can't do it alone.

"I am one tiny woman. I need us all to get engaged."

After Balint spoke, the crowd moved up Main Street to the Common where they heard from Katie Allaway, an organizer with Indivisible Brattleboro. 

"We formed two months ago," she said. "At our first meeting there were 10 of us. At our second meeting there were 40. And at our third, well, now there are all of you. It is truly amazing."

A spokeswoman for Indivisible Brattleboro said while they did not count how many people attended the local "Hands Off" rally, they estimate the turnout at 1,200 people.

Allaway hails from Laramie, Wyoming, but has lived in Brattleboro for seven years and works at Element74 as product owner of Vela, a software system for domestic and sexual violence programs. She is also a volunteer at the Brattleboro Restorative Justice Center.

"Over the last four years, I and my phenomenal team had done everything we can to protect this data," she said. "Never did I imagine that I would need to protect it from the government of the United States."

She said in the past few months, the nation has seen a targeted effort to dismantle the movement to end violence as a whole.

"We have seen entire departments like the rape prevention education department at the CDC eliminated this week. They also fired the Family Violence Protection Services office director and we have seen and HUD funding is expected to be cut by 85 percent. These organizations provide life-saving services to survivors and their families. And I am here to say 'No.' ... You cannot steal my story or the stories of the million survivors I serve."

And even though the rain began to fall harder, people remained to listen to all the speakers.

Ian Hefele, a former Peace Corps volunteer who has called Brattleboro home for more than a decade, said Vermont gave him the opportunity to dream.

"I remember as a closeted gay teenager in Connecticut, hearing about civil unions in Vermont, hearing about Vermont, just letting people live and letting people be who they are," he said. "So, the idea of building a family for the closeted teenager in Connecticut was just a pipe dream. But Vermont, you made it a reality for me, and I am so grateful."

He urged people to extend a hand to each other and to those who have come to build a community, reading from the speech President Calvin Coolidge gave in Bennington in 1928: "If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other places of the Union and support for our institution should languish, it could be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont," read Hefele.

Elizabeth Bridgewater, executive director of Windham & Windsor Housing Trust, said the nation is "experiencing the biggest bait and switch that this country has ever seen."

"This slash and burn approach isn't about efficiency. It isn't about making America great again. It's about consolidating money and power for the elites of this world. And whose money are they consolidating?"

"Our money," roared the crowd.

Bridgewater noted that 20 percent of Vermont's workforce is employed by a non-profit agency, 70 percent of which rely of federal funding to perform their missions.

"That's a lot of people whose jobs are in a vulnerable place right now," she said. "And what do these nonprofits do? They provide vital services in our community, health care, education, healthy food for our children ... and housing services. ... These are examples of our money at work, our money that is being redirected into the pockets of people that already have so much."

BELLOWS FALLS

Although there weren't any speeches at the Bellows Falls rally, there was no doubt from reading the handmade signs what was on peoples' minds.

About 150 people braved cold rainy weather at noon Saturday. They gathered at the Hetty Green Park and then moved to silently line Westminster Street and School Street near the park where they talked among themselves, waved to passersby and sang songs.

"This land is our land, this land is your land," they sang in the rain.

Louise Luring, 84, of Saxtons River, made her own unique signs - a pair of hands - a play on the "Hands Off" message of the demonstrations all over Vermont and other states on Saturday.

There was plenty of humor too in the signs: "Send Musk to the Moon (one way)" read one sign.

"Even my dog doesn't like Trump" read another.

Gail Davis of Bellows Falls didn't have a sign, but she said she was there to protest Trump and his policies, and cuts to government programs.

"I hate Donald Trump," said Davis. "I think he's evil. He's only concerned with his own wealth and power," she said.

Jan Sheehy of Rockingham carried a sign with two subtle religious messages: "John 13:34" and when she flipped it over, it read "Lev 19:34."

Sheehy said the biblical verses were ironic, as Trump and his supporters cite the Bible and don't follow its messages as John "Love one another, as I have loved you," and Leviticus, "You shall treat the alien who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself," she said.

Hazel Govotski, 90, of Bellows Falls, said she wanted to protest because of the cuts that the Trump administration was making in the government safety net, and because Trump is not respectful of the country's veterans and service members.

Govotski said it was particularly hateful that Trump chose to play golf Friday, rather than meet the remains of four servicemen who were killed this week oversees on a defense mission in Lithuania.

"They were Americans. They were American service members," said Govotski. "I love my country and I feel terrible what our country is going through," she said.

Bob Audette can be contacted at raudette@reformer.com.

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