Editor’s note: This article has been updated with information about the local “Free America Walkout” in Baltimore, as well as other demonstrations in Maryland.
A walkout in Baltimore will be among hundreds of nationwide demonstrations planned Tuesday as part of the “Free America Walkout,” a national day of coordinated walkouts and community actions to mark one year since Donald Trump’s inauguration as president.
Women’s March, 50501, FEMINIST, and other groups are coordinating communities around the country to walk out of work, schools, and commerce to protest authoritarian policies and violence from Trump’s administration. Some of the groups will organize mutual aid and volunteer actions.
More than 500 walkouts have been planned in all 50 states, and international actions are planned in Canada, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The website shows a demonstration in Baltimore near Patterson Park. Participants will gather at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the corner of Eastern Avenue and Linwood Avenue (2918 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 21224).
There are also events happening in other Maryland communities, including Laurel, Bowie, and Chestertown.
The “Free America Walkout” comes after a year of mass mobilizations and demonstrations that called for the Trump administration to stop its multi-pronged attacks on democracy. Threats have intensified, especially against immigrant communities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, but there is also expanded surveillance and top level administration officials telling ICE officers they may act with “absolute immunity”.
“In just the first 9 days of the year, we have seen ICE agents fatally shoot a woman in Minneapolis and wound two others in Portland, a military operation in Venezuela carried out without congressional authorization, only a small fraction of the Epstein files released despite the congressional deadline to do so in December, and renewed threats to seize Greenland – alongside Trump’s demands for an unprecedented $1.5 trillion ‘Dream Military’ defense budget,” reads the press release announcing the walkouts. Organizers list these as top — but not only — examples of ways in which Trump flouts the Constitution, expands use of force against U.S. citizens, and punishes dissenters.
“On January 20, we’re calling on people everywhere to turn their backs on fascism and walk out,” said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March. “Authoritarianism runs on our obedience, and we’re withdrawing it. We walk out to disrupt business as usual, to build mutual aid and public service, and to prove that ordinary people still have the power to bend what looks immovable. We walk out because a Free America is the only America worth calling great.”
Activists are encouraged to organize walkout teams with neighbors and classmates, host mutual aid and community actions, and take part in public service as a way to block the violence against immigrants, families, and workers.
“Reaching millions across our platforms, FEMINIST exists to move people from awareness into collective action,” said Aisha Becker-Burrowes and Ky Polanco, co-founders and co-executive directors at FEMINIST. “In the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Keith Porter – and amid rising state violence and authoritarianism – people are looking for ways to walk out and resist. That’s why we are mobilizing communities into action, community, and the belief that change is possible when we organize.”
There are a variety of types of actions planned, including school walkouts, walkouts where activists will march to federal buildings, city halls, local court houses and capitals, vigils for the freedoms Americans have lost, walkouts and sit-ins, protest actions and more. Times of local actions vary but are expected to happen between 1-4 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2026. The Women’s March website also has a map of local events.
What an incredible waste of time to anyone who participates. At least 77 million people do not care about your protest. And in hindsight, it will mean nothing, nor will it change anything. Do something useful with your time…go campaign for a hopeful successor that you want to win next time. Nothing will change without votes. Deal with it for the next three years, as you are powerless to effect anything.
I am leery (and weary) of these mass protests across the country and beyond. There is a Family Guy meme that has a group being asked why they are here. “We don’t know. ” they reply, all together. “We just got an email telling us to come.” Rachael Carmona, of the CA based Woman’s March, is quoted, “Authoritarianism runs on our obedience,” It sure does! Incidentally, I saw no coverage of this walk out so maybe people decided to do something better with their precious time.