50501 movement

Discussions of a nationwide protest started circulating on social media in late 2024. According to organizer Kay Evert, the movement started on Reddit, with activist organizations eventually joining in. The movement says it was organized by grassroots activists and spread through social media. The movement used the hashtags "#buildtheresistance" and "#50501", with the latter standing for "50 protests, 50 states, one day". Protestors also expressed dismay about the role of Elon Musk and his actions in the federal system. One protester stated "I'm here because Elon Musk is where he's not supposed to be. He is in our pocketbooks", as well as concerns about accessing confidential and personal data, lack of legal jurisdiction, and the unelected status of Musk. and a spokesperson for the group emphasized that Musk is a target of the protest, stating "We are still very much calling for the removal of Elon Musk. We find it very concerning that there is a non-government official that has the access that he does", as well as the desire for stronger anti-discrimination policies. == History and protests ==

The idea for 50501 started as a Reddit post by user Evolved_Fungi in late January, quickly gaining traction on social media. 50501's first protest occurred on February 5, 2025. a group initially created to support Bernie Sanders's 2016 political bid (not Our Revolution, the political action organization founded as a continuation of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign). Political Revolution put up a live list and map of protests hosted by the 50501 movement shortly afterward. K Starling, of We (the People) Dissent collected protests from four sites onto one list and an interactive map, for March 22–28 and April 5, 2025. The Hands Off protests were hosted in 1,200 locations, including state capitals, major cities, and towns across the U.S. The movement announced that the next protests would take place on April 19 and that the protests would aim to involve 11 million people, roughly 3.5% of the population of the United States. On April 19, the movement hosted another rally in Washington, D.C., and other locations in coalition with the American Civil Liberties Union, Indivisible, MoveOn, Color of Change, and the Women's March – a feminist organization that organized the third largest protest in American history in 2017. 50501 remains active, hosting rallies, protests, and retaining a social media presence. Individual chapters communicate online and continue to organize "national days of action". 50501 helped organize the 2025 May Day protests in the US, the June 14 No Kings protests, which was reportedly the largest day of protest in modern US history, the October 18 No Kings protests, and the still larger third No Kings Day protests on March 28, 2026. == Reactions ==

When asked about the protest, president of the Utah State Senate Stuart Adams said, "I think people are a little frustrated, but I also think President Trump's moving forward, and it's not going to be business as usual. And I think some of it's actually refreshing that we've got a president who will hit issues head on, deal with them and try to try to get things changed ... I think we need to give him some time to see the results of his action. I think to actually criticize something before the policies actually have a chance to have the effect that they're trying to achieve, I think is probably premature." South Carolina governor Henry McMaster commented: "I don't know what happened in other states, but I mean they were protesting, they were well-behaved. That's how you do it." Billionaire heiress Christy Walton bought a full-page ad in The New York Times promoting the No Kings protests after Walmart was adversely affected by the Trump administration's tariffs. Trump supporters responded by calling for a boycott of Walmart. == See also ==