‘Not My President’ rally held in Berkeley, joining many protests across the bay, and the country

by Tracey Taylor

Feb. 17, 2025, 8:29 p.m.Feb. 17, 2025, 8:29 p.m.

Berkeley joined several Bay Area cities, as well as cities across the country, Monday in holding a “national day of action” rally to protest the actions and policies of President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The  “Not my President’s’ Day” rally, at the intersection of Ashby and College avenues in the Elmwood, began at noon and drew several hundred people, according to Nancy Rubin, who attended and took the photos in this story. Protesters, who spanned the generations, held up signs that read “No-one elected Elon Musk,” “Fascism is not healthy for children or other living things,” and “Sell yr Tesla,” among others. Drivers of cars passing through the intersection honked and gave a thumbs-up to show their support, according to Rubin.

In Oakland more than 1,000 people gathered for a similar protest in the Grand Lake area, including comedian W. Kamau Bell, according to Bay City News. Berkeley’s first poet laureate, Rafael Jesús González, was at the Oakland Pergola beside Lake Merritt surrounded by a crowd. “Even in defeat we stand together,” he said. “We cannot let fascism rule in America. We must come together,” the Mercury News reported.

In San Francisco, an estimated 1,000 people showed up to rally in front of City Hall and to denounce Pres. Trump and Musk’s bid to shrink the federal government. The demonstration was decentralized because there wasn’t a stage,” according to Berkeleyside co-founder Frances Dinkelspiel who was there. “But the organizers had a bullhorn, people were chanting and there were lots of great costumes and signs.” The San Francisco Chronicle reported that hundreds of people marched from City Hall to the Tesla dealership on Van Ness in San Francisco. A group of about 100 protesters also gathered Saturday outside Berkeley’s Tesla dealership on Fourth Street, chanting, “hey hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.”

San Jose also saw a turnout for Not my President’s Day, and in Washington, DC, protesters gathered outside the U.S. Capitol and at the National Mall.

The demonstrations were mobilized by 50501 (short for “50 protests, 50 states, one day”), a grassroots effort to protest the policies and actions of the second Trump administration. The group also organized a nationwide demonstration on Feb. 5.