“Hands Off!” Protest in Downieville

DOWNIEVILLE — This past Saturday, April 5, people around the nation and in other countries gathered in opposition to the current administration in Washington, DC, with the message of “Hands off!” National organizers said that more than 1,300 “Hands off!” rallies of varying sizes took place that day. One of those rallies occurred in Downieville, California.

About 20 people gathered at the corner of the pizza parlor parking lot, facing Highway 49. Most were from western Sierra County, but they were joined by a couple of people from Grass Valley and Quincy. Holding hand-made signs declaring “Hands Off! Civil Rights”, “Let the scientists do their jobs”, “Hands off! Forest Service”, “Elon Takes”, “Hands off! Medicaid”, “…worker rights”, “…public lands”, and many others, the protesters withstood the icy stares of some and attempts by others to pretend they weren’t even there.

Even though part of a much larger national effort, the Downieville protest rally was locally organized. The people who gathered from 6:00 to 7:00 PM in Downieville were heartened by news of other nearby protests, including about 450 people in Quincy, about 1,000 people in Auburn, and another 1,000 people in Grass Valley. In fact, a reporter for The Union newspaper said that he had never seen a demonstration in Grass Valley coming close to the size of the one on Saturday in his eight years with the paper.