‘We’re not about to back down now.’ Baltimore protests among nationwide May Day rallies against Trump administration’s policies

Over 1,000 people filled the streets of Baltimore on Thursday as part of the growing, ongoing, grassroots protest movement against President Donald Trump’s administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s slashing of federal jobs and funding.

Baltimore’s action was part of historic participation in annual May Day rallies across the nation, which focus on organized labor and celebrating workers’ rights. More than 50 coalitions endorsed the action, demanding an end to the “DOGE” takeover of the federal government and for the investment instead into working families, public schools, healthcare, and affordable housing.

Organizers said more than 1,000 May Day events took place across the nation. But what made Baltimore’s unique was how it organized eight “feeder” marches representing different communities impacted by Trump’s policies enacted in the administration’s first 100 days. Each starting from separate locations, the feeder marches converged at a larger rally held in McKeldin Plaza in downtown Baltimore. Issues highlighted included migrant justice, education, labor rights, children and families, and more.

Speakers included a Baltimore City high school student, labor representatives from UNITE HERE Local 7, Baltimore Teachers Union, Teachers Association of Baltimore County, and the Labor Network for Sustainability. Musical performances came from Baltimore-based Eze Jackson, J Pope and Jake Kohlhas and the HearNow, Letitia Van Sant, and Yo Sé Mañana.

“Our organizing teaches us that if the boss thinks targeting one of us will scare all of us, the retaliation gets worse,” said Tracy Lingo, President, UNITE HERE Local 7. “If we show him that attacking one of us makes us all fight stronger he’ll back down. We beat Trump at this game in his casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and we’re not about to back down now.”

Maryland is feeling the impact of Trump’s policies and the actions of “DOGE” in very high-profile ways, even as many of those policies and actions have been struck down in federal courts, including the Supreme Court. The state is home to the highest proportion of federal workers outside of Washington, D.C., and the second-largest total number of federal workers behind Virginia.

Also in Maryland, Trump’s dual attacks on the rights of migrants and of transgender and non-binary people empowered ICE to arrest April Amaya-Luis, a Maryland trans woman from Mexico, and send her to an all-male ICE facility in Florida. She is back home, now.

“I won’t sugarcoat it: things are dire for my community…We’re backsliding, and they’re using their progress against us,” said Jamie Grace from the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition. “We need your allyship…The people elected to represent us paint us with a broad brush. They say trans issues are too controversial, what they mean is they aren’t brave enough to stand up for us. To them we are the issue, we take up time, we complicate things, we challenge categorization, and I say, well, GOOD. Let us have the platform and you might learn something about yourself. And if you’re scared, the best thing you can give yourself is community.”

Kilmar Ábrego García, a Maryland resident and father of three, has become the face of those wrongfully deported to Venezuela’s CECOT, a prison for terrorists. Maryland’s Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to Venezuela to see Ábrego García to ensure his safety, was first denied a visit, but then eventually allowed to see him. Ábrego García is now being detained in a different, lower-security prison despite the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision Trump should “facilitate” his return. In fact, CBS News reported that most of the 238 prisoners Trump sent to CECOT have no criminal records in the United States or Venezuela.

“We demand that [the return of] Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia – bring him home from El Salvador,” said Zainab Chaudry from the Maryland Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). “He should be reunited with his family. Our country can and must do better. History will judge us where we stand at this moment. Our future generations will look to us and ask us what we were doing in 2025 when the world was falling apart around you and you can say that you were on the right side of history.”

Maryland is also home to the Social Security Administration (SSA), Medicaid, and Medicare, foundations of the social safety net for nearly a century that Trump and Musk have targeted for cuts in jobs, funding, and capacity to operate. As early as February, Martin O’Malley, head of the SSA under President Joe Biden, rallied a large crowd in front of Social Security headquarters to prepare for a “street fight” against Musk and “DOGE.” The former Maryland governor continues to make the rounds on national and local news media, traveling the country to speak on the future of Social Security under Trump.

So, it’s not surprising that in Baltimore, eight different groups found reason to rally separately, then unite in the center of the city to hear speakers from all walks of life express their concerns, ideas, and plans. There were musical performances, and even a group line dance to “Boots on the Ground” by 803Fresh led by Diamonté Brown, president of the Baltimore Teachers Union.

“At this moment in history, we all feel like victims,” said Zion, a Baltimore City high school student at the rally. “Victims of broken systems, victims of violence, victims of lack of transparency. But that’s not how our story has to end. … As students in Baltimore city public schools, we’ve been spoken for, spoken over, criminalized, and denied access to equitable education by those who have never once stepped foot in a Baltimore city public school. … Together, we will turn our collective strength into change, and we will rise above a system that seeks to keep us down.”

“As a Black woman whose family has been in Maryland since the slave trade, something in my bones knows the depths of evil possible when people turn off their ability to empathize with other people–when we allow morally, culturally, and spiritually depraved people to run our governments, lead our institutions of public memory, and distort faith to justify their viciousness,” said Sam Masters, an organizer with Organizing Black. “But I also know about the power of people who believe in and will fight for justice, love, freedom and liberty for their fellow humans. I believe it is that power that can sustain us to fight for the power to win real, meaningful change in our communities, our nation and our world.”

Leslie Miller, a Baltimore writer, marketer, and member of Indivisible Baltimore, has participated in multiple actions with her family since Trump’s election, including the Hands Off! Rally, Tesla Takedowns, and more. She’s known for her creative sign-making and frequently gets requests for photos at the rallies.

“Baltimore shows up in numbers, and it moves me to tears every time,” Miller said. “But they’re joyful tears, and each one we attend fuels us to take the real actions against Trump’s latest indignities.”