After Turkey, Pikachu spotted at anti-Trump Hands Off! rally in US

A protestor dressed as Pikachu was spotted in the crowds as a surge of protests erupted across the US on Saturday after thousands of demonstrators filled the streets across all 50 states to voice their opposition to President Donald Trump and his key adviser Elon Musk. The coordinated wave of over 1,200 “Hands Off!” rallies united a broad coalition — including civil rights groups, labor unions, LGBTQ+ advocates, veterans, and other community organizations — in pushing back against the administration’s drastic cuts to public services, government downsizing, and contentious social policy shifts.The administration is facing fierce backlash from critics who say it’s dismantling the foundations of American democracy. "They’ve woken up a sleeping giant, and they haven’t seen nothing yet," declared activist Graylan Hagler during a protest in Washington, D.C., as reported by AFP. Elon Musk — the billionaire head of Tesla, SpaceX, and social platform X — is at the center of the storm as the newly appointed chief of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a role that has seen him push sweeping budget cuts across federal institutions. While Musk insists the reforms are saving taxpayers billions, many see them as a dangerous erosion of vital public services. Protesters, according to the Associated Press, condemned the closure of Social Security offices, large-scale layoffs of federal employees, and looming reductions in healthcare and HIV-related programs. At the Washington rally, Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, slammed the administration’s rollback of LGBTQ+ protections: “They’re trying to ban our books, they’re slashing HIV prevention funding, they’re criminalizing our doctors, our teachers, our families and our lives,” she said. These frustrations resonated across the country. In New York, crowds marched through Manhattan holding signs with messages like “Hands Off Our Democracy” and “Diversity Equity Inclusion Makes America Strong.”