Crowds Gather at Hands-Off Rally on Greenwich Ave: “The Fight of Our Lives”

On Saturday morning a crowd more than 400 people gathered outside the Havemeyer building on Greenwich Avenue as part of a mass nationwide mobilization, “Hands-Off.”

Featured speakers were Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and US Congressman Jim Himes who represents Connecticut’s 4th District.

In attendance were two of Greenwich’s State Representatives, Steve Meskers (D-150) and Hector Arzeno (D-151).

Among the handmade protest signs were messages regarding free speech, schools, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, public lands, personal data, the courts, the media, libraries and personal data – to name a few.

The Greenwich event was organized by Indivisible Greenwich and was one of over 1000 “Hands Off” events held nationwide, with the anchor event held in Washington DC, organized and promoted by over 100 organizations, including Indivisible.org, MoveOn, 5051, the League of Women Voters, and the Women’s March.

The event kicked off with Congressman Himes who talked about the rule of law in this country.

“If we do not have the rule of law in this country, we have autocracy. Except for the millions of you around the country – big law, corporations, the media have bent the knee to his authoritarian impulses, over and over again,” he said, referring to President Donald Trump.

“The institution in which I serve is on its back – the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have one question for this President when he says jump – and that question is, ‘How high, sir?”

“The good news is, the courts are still standing up. We’re seeing courage in people like Judge Boasberg, and that is one of the key foundations and supports of our democracy in this perilous time.”

---

Subscribe to the GFP daily newsletter.

---

“There is one other source and defender of our democracy – and that is all of you,” Himes continued. “In 1776, it was the people who stood up against tyranny. In 1860 it was the people in the hundreds of thousands who volunteered to end slavery. In the 1960’s it was the people who marched and crossed bridges and sat at lunch counters for the values we care about. And once again it will be all of you.  It will be the people who say we will never be ruled by a tyrant. We will take our Constitution, and we will stand for the rule of law.”

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said, “Just this week we took the fight to Donald Trump again. I sued him three times this week. We sued him to stop his attack on elections, on libraries and museums, and to stop him from making a $175 million cut to public health right here in Connecticut.”

“We are in the fight of our lives,” Tong continued. “Even though we’ve seen some success in the early going, people are being hurt right now. If you’re a federal employee, not just in Washington, but here in Connecticut, and across the country, and you’ve lost your job or are about to lose your job, mom and dad are going to have trouble paying the mortgage. Even if you do well, people live 30, 60, 90 days out with their cash flow.”

“If you’re a veteran, and rely on a doctor, a nurse or a counselor at the VA in West Haven, they’re not picking up the phone,” Tong added.

“If you’re a special ed student here in Greenwich, Connecticut – if you’re a teacher, a school bus driver, if you’re the Board of Education here in Greenwich – good luck. And if you’re an immigrant in America, you walk around with a target on your back every single day.”

“We, I, all of us, are a check on this president,” Tong said. “That’s why, as soon as he issued his executive order to ban birthright citizenship, we went into court, Democratic attorneys general. We sued on Tuesday, we got a temporary restraining order on Thursday. Check, Mr. President!”

“We sued every single time!”

“There is too much surrender right now in America. There is too much kowtowing. I’ve been an American for 51 years – an American citizen by right of my birth on American soil. My parents were not yet citizens – by right of my birth on American soil I’m an American and I have never been on my knees – and I’m not going to start now!”

Following remarks outside the Havemeyer building the group marched to the bottom of Greenwich Avenue, with many breaking off to take Metro-North into New York City for Hands-Off protests there.

After the event, said Nerlyn Pierson, a co-founder of Indivisible Greenwich, said the rally had been about taking action at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history and showing solidarity.

“We cannot let Trump and his administration erode the rights and protections that so many have fought for. The Hands Off! Rally matters because it sends a clear message that the people have the power and we will not be silenced,” Pierson said. “From every corner of this country, Americans are coming together to say enough is enough. We will not allow our democracy to be hijacked. We are standing up for our rights, our communities, and our future.”

See also:

Sen Murphy’s Message to Packed Town Hall in Stamford: “Mobilize”

March 29, 2025

“Tesla Takedown” Draws Hundreds of Protesters against Trump and Musk to Greenwich/Stamford Line

March 1, 2025