“Hands Off!” Rally Draws Over 500 to Fayetteville

The Citizen
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Hundreds of people holding signs along a highway

“Hands Off!” Rally Draws Over 500 to Fayetteville

The Citizen
Hundreds of people holding signs along a highway
Share this Post
Views 7707 | Comments 30

More than 500 people rallied on Saturday, April 4, 2025, at the Old Courthouse grounds in downtown Fayetteville to express their dissent toward President Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, joining other communities around the country in what organizers called the most significant coordinated day of protest year to date.

“This was phenomenal,” said Maura Keller, who was at the rally. She ran for Congress in 2024 against Brian Jack. “Everyone had a sign that was personal to them—because the policies and actions taken by the current administration affect all of us, even globally. What made this so powerful was seeing people from across the political spectrum come together. It felt good to do something tangible, to stand up and make our voices heard.”

Waving signs toward motorists on Hwy 85, participants stood in solidarity with similar demonstrations held nationwide. The event was part of a broader campaign branded as “HANDS OFF,” which called attention to concerns about democracy, civil rights, and the influence of powerful individuals on public policy.

Local organizers emphasized that the event remained calm and respectful, focusing on civic engagement and community presence. Many attendees brought homemade signs, and families could be seen participating together.

The Citizen

30 responses to ““Hands Off!” Rally Draws Over 500 to Fayetteville”

  1. MyCatBill Avatar
    MyCatBill

    Doug – specifics, please. You throw around “due process” with nothing behind it, like you know what you are talking about, and we’re just supposed to nod our heads and say, “Yeah, Doug, due process. Trump’s bad”. That was why those people were standing on a street for hours shouting at the sky?

    As far as freedom of speech, you must have slept through the Biden administration, the one whose FBI actively worked through Twitter, Facebook et al to censor stories and opinions they didn’t like (eg Hunter’s laptop, Covid). Or going after parents who voiced opinions at school board meetings.

    And the irony of a crowd of people openly exercising their right to free speech while supposedly living in fear of imminent government harassment for exercising their right to free speech is rich.

    You’re either ignorant or actively fear-mongering with wild exaggerations. Neither is good, by the way.

    1. Doug Tucker Avatar
      Doug Tucker

      I will confess my ignorance; the older I get the less I know. Perhaps the best evidence of my ignorance is I do not know why so many people voted for Humpty-Dumpty and his toe-lickers. However, I understand, better than most, how the government works. Fear-mongering? You must be a scaredy-cat!.

      Cat. I’m not one to promote the Biden administration. However, I see it as much more law abiding and honorable than the Trump administrations. I don’t hate Trump; I think Humpty-Dumpty is self-serving, incompetent, criminally fraudulent, and treats all of us like “suckers.” You are obviously a coward and scared of progressives, “left wingers,” and the truth. Otherwise, you would identify yourself, read up on current events, and provide reasonable evidence to support your opinions. DOGE’s wall of shame isn’t it. Maybe someday, but not yet and not now. It’s accuracy and processes haven’t been tested, making it anywhere near factual. Also, if you cared anything beyond your blind insecure feelings, you would want to preserve our nation’s integrity and dignity as something to be defended, preserved, and saved for future generations and not gambled away or tossed out on the bargaining table. But something poisoned you. Maybe it’s the smell of your litter.

      Now, I will offer one specific clue. There are many, but you have to do some homework like a concerned citizen. But I’m wasting my time with you. You should know better, but then you are just a cat. Sec. 1., XIV Amendment. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

      Garcia, a legal resident who lived with his wife and child in Maryland, was alleged by the Trump administration to have been a member of a gang, but later a lawyer for the Justice Department admitted that he had been deported in error. Other reports indicated that many of the men who were deported were targeted by the White House simply because they had tattoos. Don’t take my word for it, look up the SCOTUS opinions and orders The U.S. Supreme Court still maintains a reputable website. You don’t have to dig deeply, but you do have to do some reading. Try it or keep digging in your litter box. Have a happy day and please, please, clean your box.

      1. Doug Tucker Avatar
        Doug Tucker

        Sorry Cat, this site timed out as I was writing. To continue with my above 3 … Many understand this section as applicable only to the states in the post-civil war condition. An originalist will certainly interpret the section as applicable to the states. However, those with a “conservative” understanding of due process have applied it to a number of governmental processes and procedures. For example, 5 U.S.C., Chapter 75, includes “Due Process is a guarantee of a fair legal process when the government seeks to deprive an individual of life, liberty, or property.” Chapter 43 is similar. By law (actual Congressional legislation) terminating career Federal employment requires various forms of due process. But my example deals with something more substantial than employment, liberty itself.

        My above paragraph follows.

      2. MyCatBill Avatar
        MyCatBill

        Did I strike a nerve, Doug? Getting emotional and throwing school yard taunts is what lefties do, but let’s stick with the issues at hand.

        The issue is why were all these progressives shouting and carrying signs. Your first attempt was weak and empty. Now you try to make a case for due process problems, but I don’t see any signs being carried with that grievance, so the question remains.

        To your point, federal workers do have some due process rights, but only for misconduct or poor job performance. It does not apply to job eliminations. There is no lifetime employment guarantee, even in the federal government, except perhaps for Supreme Court Justices. Try again.

        You also failed to back up your claim that the sign-toters were there because “we have exceeded the tipping point where we can no longer exercise our freedom of speech”, which makes it blatant fear-mongering. No basis. Just make some wild statement to get ill-informed people whipped up enough to go stand on a street corner yelling. Apparently, it worked.

        Looking forward to the day we can have a respectful, fact-based discussion in these columns, if you can get yourself together.

        1. Doug Tucker Avatar
          Doug Tucker

          Until I meet you, and I am willing to, you can forget about a respectful conversation. You may ask why, it’s mainly because I cannot only identify you, but I also can’t look into your eyes, and finally your opinion short of verifiable facts have no meaning to me.

          Now, the Hands-off crowd are appealing to their fellow countrymen’s common-sense. If Humpty-Dumpty uses DOGE to restrict social security and Medicare administration to the citizenry, the citizenry will suffer the badly needed benefits. Thus, many of us want Humpty-Dumpty to keep his hands off those mostly earned benefits. As for me, I want Humpty-Dumpty and the toe-lickers to quit messing around with our traditional legal precedents. I want Congress to approve declarations of war, tariffs, and laws. I want POTUS to enforce laws pursuant to Congressional intent. I want SCOTUS to judge, by determining order, the application of the Constitution, legislative intent, without personal opining. I see all three branches of Government failing in their duties as executed and consistent with their oaths. You may not agree, and that’s okay. But I am conservative; I want traditional precedents followed until such time they no longer afford humane application.

          Cat. I think you are more of a jackass, than feline. Though your litter box stinks to many of us, you seem to refuse to clean it. Also, if you have taken my clue, followed it with minimal diligence, you may just decide to change your perspective, or at least understand there exist other perspectives equally as valuable as yours. Lastly for now, Garcia has many of us wondering if POTUS will yield to the courts.

          1. MyCatBill Avatar
            MyCatBill

            Doug – it must be hard going through life with such anger and no way to logically express yourself. Thus we get only emotional rants, juvenile nicknames and elementary school heckling that make your opinions weak. Perhaps you should leave it to the big boys and girls.

            At least you provided a laugh to get my day started off well. You’re a conservative? Hope your day goes as well as mine will.

  2. Stranger Than Fiction Avatar
    Stranger Than Fiction

    First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

    —Martin Niemöller

  3. faycocitizen1 Avatar
    faycocitizen1

    TDS is alive and well!

    1. Doug Tucker Avatar
      Doug Tucker

      Meaningless statement. Where’s the context?

  4. My.02 Avatar
    My.02

    Gotta keep those progressive protest muscles in shape, even if there’s nothing to protest but fear-mongering about what might happen if, if, if…. At least they didn’t bring their Antifa pals to throw a few “mostly peaceful” fire bombs this time.

    Hands off forests? Education? Hands off social security and medicare? The Biden path had those retirement programs unable to fund benefits in under 10 years, so what is their solution? And apparently they didn’t see the news about the billions in waste, fraud and abuse in those programs that Trump is fixing, or maybe they fear their grift is about to end.

    I notice that egg prices are no longer on the Dems’ list, as if it was a manufactured story about a conspiracy by big “greedy” corporations. The Citizen bought into it last month.

    “Influence of powerful individuals on public policy”? Of the 10 wealthiest Americans, one (Elon Musk) and possibly Larry Ellison, are Republicans. All the rest plus George Soros fund far-left candidates and causes, but why let facts get in the way of a good poster slogan?

    The tax and spend progressive way was thoroughly discredited under Biden / Harris. Democrats still don’t have solutions to America’s issues – – only emotion, victim culture, TDS, and performative politics.

    1. Rjohnsto1 Avatar
      Rjohnsto1

      Funny how trump always talks about fraud but never shows you any proof of such. In addition, he has torn down governmental fraud-finding tools. He fired more than a dozen inspectors general whose job was to ferret out fraud and inefficiencies. He paused the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits businesses from taking bribes from foreign officials. Your answer to the question “Influence of powerful individuals on public policy”? was laughable – (only 2 billionaire republicans involved were Musk and possibly Larry Ellison). Trump has assembled the wealthiest presidential administration in modern history, with at least 13 billionaires set to take on government posts. Howard Lutnick nominated as commerce secretary, Linda McMahon nominated as education secretary, and Scott Bessent nominated as treasury secretary. Together, Trump’s expected cabinet is worth at least $7 billion. Trump’s ambassador picks also include several billionaires. They are Warren Stephens, who has been tapped to serve as the ambassador to the United Kingdom, Conair executive Leandro Rizzuto Jr., tapped to serve as the ambassador to the Organization of American States, Charles Kushner, named the ambassador to France, and Tom Barrack, named the ambassador to Turkey.

      1. Stranger Than Fiction Avatar
        Stranger Than Fiction

        Thanks for the reply RJ. However, the MAGA-verse only believes “facts” supplied by Herr Goebbels on Fox.

        Just get your golf clubs and play a few rounds. No need to worry while the economy tanks. 47 has it all under control just as he did on Jan. 6, 2021.

        Assuming you are an Aryan male, you have nothing to fear.

        1. the_wing_t Avatar
          the_wing_t

          Speaking of fear and fear-mongering……goodness…..try looking in the mirror STF. Take a couple downers or antidepressants and chill out……orange man isn’t shredding the country. PS – Trump’s share of the black and hispanic vote doubled in many parts of the country from 2020 to 2024….they don’t have anything to fear either.

      2. MyCatBill Avatar
        MyCatBill

        Try doge.gov/savings for the proof. You’ll see the receipts for enough waste, fraud and abuse to change your political viewpoints. Unless you are in favor of the grifting of all of us taxpayers.

        1. Doug Tucker Avatar
          Doug Tucker

          Incomplete and laughable at best. There isn’t enough information to make this auditable and most sites are unavailable. Terminate all those who were previously responsible for the data and oversight, hire inexperienced and unaccountable investigators and this is what you get. If you believe this rubbish, Humpty-Dumpty (aka PT Barnum’s protege) has some land in Florida you will also want to buy.

          1. MyCatBill Avatar
            MyCatBill

            Bless your heart. So you’ve now moved the goalpost to “auditable” for you? More transparency out of the federal government than anyone has seen in their lifetimes, and you scoff because you want to audit it?

            Or maybe you won’t acknowledge the depth of the waste, fraud and abuse taxpayers have been funding for decades, or that it is finally coming to an end. See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. (Well, maybe you’re testing that last one.)

            Here’s one of hundreds of similar stories of graft coming out about the Biden / Harris administration: “EPA administration wants to ‘claw back’ $20 billion given to climate nonprofits”, Deseret News, 3/6/25. Too much to detail here, but it’s part of Biden’s $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act (the mini-Green New Deal) to implement the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

            “A recent investigation by the Free Press followed the money to eight nonprofits, many of them connected to former Biden and Obama administration staffers (who paid themselves very well). Between Nov. 5 and Jan. 20, all but $7 billion of the ($27 billion) greenhouse gas reduction fund was awarded to the eight nonprofit groups.”

            EPA Director Lee Zeldin is working with the Department of Justice and FBI on their investigations. And Doug is auditing as well.

            PS This all happened under the noses of the auditors and inspectors that you now claim are irreplaceable. Perhaps there’s billions of reasons they were let go?

    2. Doug Tucker Avatar
      Doug Tucker

      I trust your head won’t explode. It looks like Humpty-Dumpty decided to make SSA’s phone services more responsive to the citizens. Maybe there is something to people getting involved with their government. It doesn’t take progressives, just taking interest. Imagine that. Now, about those egg prices …

      1. Doug Tucker Avatar
        Doug Tucker

        Cat. For a person who doesn’t read well, you are responsive. Then again, cats are known for their arrogance. No name calling, just observations.

        “Deseret News” is a church owned news source. While it maintains a middle-of-the-road reporting image, I have no confidence in its objectivity. Nor should you. Whereas “Free Press” is known for its right leaning and sometimes libertarian views, it follows the crowd of anti-left-wingers. You may fall into that category.

        Auditable, includes ledgers, receipts, journals, or other items detailing specific transactions and are normally admissible in court. Before Humpty-Dumpty and Bambi, we had a reputable investigative agency known for its auditing capability. They used to be known as the FBI. Is DOGE reputable? I think not. It serves one purpose, to identify as much fraud and waste it can to make political gains, not to identify truth. Is DOGE desperate? Maybe, from broadcasting hundreds of billions in fraud and waste to what now, maybe 150 billion? I think most will agree the truth will take time to gather sufficient evidence of fraud and waste. At one time, Congress provided oversight, but any remnants of that went out with the toe-lickers (read Mike Johnson and company).

        So Cat, where’s your evidence? I doubt you will find it in the alleys.

        1. MyCatBill Avatar
          MyCatBill

          Doug – I gave you several sources. You just choose not to like them, for your own partisan reasons. It doesn’t change the facts therein.

          Jeez, Doug. ONLY $150 billion in waste, fraud and abuse? How much were you expecting? It will take time to sort things out, it’s likely to be much higher savings, so take a seat for a while.

          The “ledgers, receipts and journals” that you claim to need before you believe we have a serious federal government spending problem are there. And that’s at least $150,000,000,000 you and I don’t have to fund with our tax dollars, so relax. All good.

  5. Stranger Than Fiction Avatar
    Stranger Than Fiction

    This is heartening to see so many who haven’t “bowed the knee to Baal.” With the ongoing disasters that 47 is daily imposing upon Americans, it is easy to see how all of the presidential historian polls placed his first presidency at the absolute bottom. And now, he seeks to wreck even more havoc.

    I wonder how long it will be, if ever, before the misguided souls who voted for him will come to their senses. Our Constitutional republic should never be placed at the mercy of an authoritarian, especially one bankrupt of civility and morality. I hope the guardrails of the Constitution will hold, or we will find ourselves in 1930s western Europe. Some American didn’t sleep through History of Western Civ. class.

    1. the_wing_t Avatar
      the_wing_t

      “Our Constitutional republic should never be placed at the mercy of an authoritarian, especially one bankrupt of civility and morality. ” You’re so right….it’s much better to have our country be placed in the hands of a dementia patient who couldn’t think his way out of a wet paper sack, and who has an autopen that makes his name appear on items he should be aware that he’s signing, while his invalid son is out raking in millions by selling government influence based on the family name. lol. You should practice standup comedy, STF…..you’d do well.

      1. Uncle Mike Avatar
        Uncle Mike

        At least they made their own signs for this one, I again will ask the question…

        1-Are you a Fayette County resident?

        2-IF not, where are you from who paid you?

        3-Did they end at 12:00 pm sharp, like the Telsa protests?

        1. Mar77 Avatar
          Mar77

          To answer your questions:

          1. My husband and I were there. Yes, we are Fayette County residents as were 10 of ourother friends. Three additional friends were from Clayton County. The County Administration building parking lot was full of Fayette County tags, although we spied one from Coweta County.

          2. Nobody paid us. We’re just patriotic, concerned citizens dismayed by President Tump’s disregard of The Constitution.

          3. No, the protest did not end at 12 p.m. sharp. It ended promptly as scheduled–4:30 p.m.

          1. MyCatBill Avatar
            MyCatBill

            Interesting. What clause(s) of the Constitution has Trump disregarded that made you so concerned?

          2. Doug Tucker Avatar
            Doug Tucker

            Bill’s Cat. Start with the 14th Amendment’s due process requirement. There are more, but this is a start. The problems encountered from governments ignoring due process are the same as those found in every failing government, not honoring the rights of its citizenry. So doing adds to the discrediting of government, growing animosity, and eventual overthrow. Even now I believe we have exceeded the tipping point where we can no longer exercise our freedom of speech (another Constitutional right) without anticipating harassment from the government. Many people have no idea as to how much this is beginning to fester among the citizens.

      2. Doon Avatar
        Doon

        Wing, I told you and My 2 Cents back in the early fall that he, the NY real estate developer, who has a penchant to take businesses and run them into the ground and then exit with bankruptcies, was going to ruin the economy. And in a matter of days with a stroke of a pen, he managed to singlehandedly wipeout the bull market he was given. That’s a $9.6 trillion dollar loss he created.

        This is all man-made and next stop, the GDP suffers as world trading partners retreat. Going forward, will there be any mutual trust from our allies? Yes, give me a dementia patient Wing whose car keys have been taken away by his conscientious family. Rather than the lunatic uncle whose whack-a-do MAGA family throws him the car keys (once again), so he can go off-road in the family vehicle to take shortcuts and run into those trees that keep getting in the way.

        1. the_wing_t Avatar
          the_wing_t

          Doon – were you singing the same tune in 2022 when Biden’s administation policies cratered the S&P500 by 20%, and the NASDAQ by 32%. Something tells me you probably blamed that on Trump too. Lol. Take a deep breath and chill out. Everything’s going to be better soon. The market just had its best day today (4/9/2025) in 16 years. You should be celebrating that, since you were bemoaning that Trump was destroying the economy.

          1. Doon Avatar
            Doon

            It wasn’t Biden’s admin policies. 2022 was a combination of factors with inflation surging from the lingering supply chain disruptions from the pandemic, higher interest rates and a destabilization of the global markets from … hold on now for your quick history lesson here … with the war in Ukraine that started in Feb ’22.

            The market’s best day on April 9 here in 2025? Woop–de-doo for you and your Subaru. Chart the S&P YTD in 2025. That’s Jan thru April 11. You’ll see how ridiculous that last statement of yours was.

  6. Doug Tucker Avatar
    Doug Tucker

    Best thing I’ve seen in politics for a while. Congratulations to all the participants; they are great American patriots and unlike most around here. Good works!

  7. Hometown600 Avatar
    Hometown600

    Good to see the freedom of speech is alive and well. Let’s keep it out of the wood chipper.

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