A small crowd that peaked at about 50 people gathered at Tulsa City Hall on Monday for a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s administration.
Katie Smith, a public school teacher, said she was there to protest the “fascist” moves being made by Trump and ally billionaire Elon Musk. She cited Musk’s access to federal government payment systems, cuts to foreign aid programs, and the expected demise of the U.S. Department of Education that disburses funds for low-income students.
“I’ve seen the poor immigrants and kids in our schools. Lack of funding is really impacting them. We have kids who can’t even speak English in the classrooms expected to do work and they can’t because they don’t speak English. There’s no help for them,” said Smith.
The protest in Tulsa was a satellite event under the umbrella of 50501, a group describing itself on Facebook as a “nationwide grassroots effort uniting all 50 states in protest against authoritarianism and threats to democracy.” Larger protests took place in Oklahoma City and at other capitals around the country.
The protest was advertised on social media as a “No Kings on Presidents Day” gathering. Many of Trump’s moves in the first month of his presidency have cut out lawmakers, even though both houses of Congress have swung to Trump’s own Republican Party.
Participants in the Tulsa protest said more demonstrations are planned and will be advertised on social media.
