By Jon Decker, Granite State News Collaborative
After protests against President Trump and his administration attracted several hundred people for demonstrations at the State House in February, a group of newly minted Granite State political activists is planning more actions.
On Feb. 5, demonstrators carrying signs protesting Trump and Elon Musk, the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, turned out in Concord to voice their opposition. And on Feb. 17, a similarly sized crowd showed up in front of the State House for a “Not My Presidents’ Day” protest. Both were part of a nationally coordinated campaign, the “50501 Movement” — which stands for "50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement.”
One of the anti-Trump protest’s organizers, Danielle Zobel addresses the crowd via megaphone in front of the New Hampshire State House at a Feb. 5 rally.. (Jon Decker/ Granite State News Collaborative)
No single political organization claims credit for the national campaign, but reporting from Snopes traced initial posts calling for the Feb. 5 protests to a Reddit user by the name of u/Evolved_Fungi, according to a fellow moderator by the handle of U/honeydoulemon. While Evolved_Fungi’s initial post has been deleted, the user is still highly active in the 50501 Reddit page, and has had an account for over three years.
Three New Hampshire-based Redditors met on the platform and decided to organize the State House protests through additional social media channels.
“They had it broken out into all 50 states, so I made a post on [the New Hampshire] Reddit. It started to gain some traction, and then I got banned from the national post because they thought I was a bot,” explained organizer and military veteran Christopher Farrell. “So then I jumped over to Discord.”
That’s where organizer Danielle Zobel, creator of the local Discord page, recognized Farrell’s username.
“He was the only one that was starting to get some traction,” Zobel explained. “We had no movement in the New Hampshire Reddit at all and we didn't want that. We were like, ‘no, not in the Live Free or Die state.’”
“I’ve been pushing on TikTok; we have a Facebook group that collaborated with us,” Farrell said. “We had a liaison from the Facebook group coming to Discord to relay information; we had another group from Reddit who were relaying information.”
Farrell filed for a permit to protest from both the state and city just over one week before the Feb. 5 protest was set to take place. The organizer said they were approved the day before the protest.
Democratic activist Todd Ayer speaks at the steps of the State House during the Feb. 5 protest. (Jon Decker/ Granite State News Collaborative)
Although early posts promoting the Feb. 5 event hinted at a protest against the administration's close ties to and implementation of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 — a political initiative to reshape the federal government of the United Statesand consolidate executive power in favor of right-wing policies — signs and slogans carried by demonstrators called out just about every aspect of the Trump administration.
Zobel said her primary reason for attending, and helping organize the event, were recent diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks and an erosion of women’s rights.
“I also have a teen daughter, so women’s rights are going to be a huge thing for her as she’s coming up into womanhood and adulthood,” Zobel said. “I don’t want her to see that laying down and quitting is an option.”
“My daughter turned 15 today,” Farrell said during the protest, “and veterans are going to be suffering a lot from financial cuts that an unelected billionaire is making with his cronies of 19-to-24-year-olds who don’t have the security clearance to access the keys to the world.”
Musk’s name made frequent appearances on both cardboard signs and from the lips of protesters, who called for the billionaire Trump campaign donor and head of the newly minted DOGE to be deported to Mars.
“My utter dismay at the disintegration of democracy,” said Nancy Hendrix of Concord when asked what brought her out to protest. “The coup that’s going on in Washington with Elon Musk, an unelected individual, just like all of us accept he’s a billionaire, having access to everyone’s financial information and the treasury payment system. It’s outrageous.”
Anger at Shaheen, Hassan
Protesters speaking out against the Trump administration gather on North Main Street in Concord on Feb. 5 as part of the initial nationwide action called 50501. (Jon Decker/Granite State News Collaborative)
In recent weeks, a host of young aides employed by Musk’s DOGE began entering multiple governmental departments and agencies, including Treasury, Defense and Education as well as the Parks Service, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They accessed computer systems, many of which hold private financial information, including Social Security numbers.
“Just to be frank, I went through certain courses to get security clearances in my military experience, and they wouldn’t guarantee that I would be able to touch any type of those systems,” Farrell said. “So just because you work for someone who is friends with the president does not give you any authority, and I really think they’re going to strip America for parts, cut anything they can so [Trump] can afford the tax cuts he’s promised his friends.”
DOGE is not an official government agency and was not created with approval of Congress, but it has been able to access large swaths of sensitive, even classified information and essentially shut down USAID. These and other DOGE actions are facing legal challenges from a variety of judges and courts, including in New Hampshire, where on Feb. 10 U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante placed an injunction on Trump’s executive order that would end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.
It was not just Trump, Musk and other MAGA allies catching fire from the Feb. 5 crowd.
“Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan should be completely ashamed of themselves for supporting even one of Trump’s nominees,” said Hendryx, describing New Hampshire’s two Democratic senators. “They have supported seven, voted to confirm seven. I can’t even wrap my head around it, honestly.”
Hassan and Shaheen are among three Democratic senators who have supported nine of Trump’s 18 cabinet nominees so far. The only Democratic senator to vote in favor of more is John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Shaheen also was one of five Democratic senators who voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act, which will allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain immigrants charged with larceny, shoplifting and theft regardless of immigration status.
Organizers also claimed that Democratic lawmakers were discouraging people from attending the protests.
Protest organizer Danielle Zobe l(center) joins the crowd on North Main St. in Concord to protest recent executive actions by the Trump administration and Elon Musk. (Jon Decker/ Granite State News Collaborative)
“They were basically saying that if you don’t have funding or aren’t a part of a Democratic organization, that’s an illegitimate demonstration,” Farrell said. “But we’re the people. We live here; you work for us. If you’re not going to do your job, we’ll do it for you.”
Sen. Shaheen did not address the demonstrations when asked for comment, but stated in a written response: “It’s unacceptable that Elon Musk and his DOGE team have been given access to federal payment systems and sensitive personal information at the behest of President Trump. I've demanded accountability and answers from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and I'll keep calling for protection against this overreach.”
Hassan’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Although Zobel and Farrell stated they received little support, and in some cases discouragement from official Democratic organizations, the crowd size at the protests seems to be changing a few attitudes.
“The day after the [first] protest is when we started getting messages from a few organizations we reached out to previously,” said Farrell’s wife and fellow organizer, Victoria. According to both the Farrells and Zobel, they are now talking with the Kent Street Coalition, a Concord-based progressive activist group.
“They’re more established,” Farrell said. “They were probably sitting back, waiting to see how Wednesday turned out before they tied themselves to it.”
Kent Street Coalition co-founder Louise Spencer confirmed contact with Farrell after the protests.
“Our thought was that the call [for protest] had gone out nationally through Reddit and it was anonymous,” Spencer explained. “Without knowing who the organizers were personally, the idea was to let our members know it was happening, but we were not sponsors.”
The Kent Street Coalition was founded in December 2015, right after Trump won his first presidential term, and experienced a similar beginning, according to Spencer.
“We went from brand spanking new, too,” Spencer said. “We support people in stepping up when the need arises, and we're grateful these folks stepped up and put the event together. They seem to have done that in a careful and considered way.”
Despite the obviously progressive messaging of the protest, Zobel iterated that the event was not a rebuke of Trump voters themselves.
“There are so many people that supported Trump and they don’t approve of Musk's involvement,” Zobel said. “We have to be willing to reach across the aisle and say, ‘Hey, do you see this?’”
A protester bearing a sign referencing WWII era concentration camps rallies the crowd. (Jon Decker/Granite State News Collaborative)
“So much is happening, but I know there are Republicans as well who are like, ‘What is going on?’” said Victoria Farrell. “We are all looking at each other saying, ‘What are we going to do about this? Is anyone doing anything?’”
As for future plans, Zobel and Farrell said they are working on a new, more New Hampshire-oriented Discord to plan further protests, including a second nationwide action that took place on Monday, Feb. 17.
These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.