#Maine: #WatervilleME protesters urge passersby to ‘#DumpTrump’

More than 50 people gathered Thursday morning on the sidewalk in downtown Waterville to protest President #Trump and #ElonMusk.

by Amy Calder, February 27, 2025

WATERVILLE — "More than 50 people stood in a snowstorm downtown Thursday, protesting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to dismantle government programs and cut the federal workforce.

"The 'Dump Trump' rally was organized by #ElizabethLeonard, an author, historian, and professor emeritus of history at #ColbyCollege, who on Feb. 5 led a rally at a #Tesla charging station less than a mile away.

"News of that protest went viral, prompting dozens of similar protests across the country at Telsa dealerships and charging stations. A Morning Sentinel story about that rally was featured on at least one national television show and in the Boston Globe as part of a subsequent interview with Leonard.

"She said she never thought the Tesla event would have such an impact.
'It’s just proof of the fact that a small group of people can make a huge difference, or you could say, where a butterfly flaps its wings, a breeze goes around the world,' Leonard, 68, said. 'We didn’t expect so many people to pay attention.'

"It was a chilly 29 degrees on Main Street Thursday as motorists beeped their horns in support of the protesters. Someone in a white car yelled 'Go home!' to the group.

"Some protesters held trash bags with signs attached that read 'Dump Trump.' Leonard said she agrees with scholars who say the world is re-living history as it witnesses #fascists rise to power and destroy #democratic governments.

"'This is all how it happens,' she said."

[...]

"Linda Woods, 73, and Beth Schiller, 68, both of Waterville, protested at the Tesla charging station rally Feb. 5 and were on the street again Thursday. They praised Leonard for starting the #TeslaProtest, which was widely mimicked.

"'I’m just sad that we have to do this,' Woods said. 'I’m tired of standing in the cold.'

"Schiller said she is horrified that people have been #brainwashed into believing the government is 'bad.'

"'They’re going to miss all the good things that government does for all of us when it’s been burned to the ground from #Project2025,' she said, referring to a conservative plan for restructuring government.

"Leonard said she is trying to contact #FederalWorkers in Maine who have been fired from jobs in areas such as the Transportation Safety Administration, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Social Security Administration to bring them together and let them talk and know they are supported. Ruining people’s lives in that way is unacceptable, Leonard said.

"'They’ll all be at the #SoupKitchen, but there won’t be any money for that because the #Medicaid is gone,' she said."

Read more:
https://www.centralmaine.com/2025/02/27/waterville-protesters-urge-passersby-to-dump-trump/

Archived version:
https://archive.md/tR9RY
#MaineProtest #BadDOGE #USPol #MainePol #MaineProtests #Resist #ResistFascism #ResistDOGE