A few hundred people gathered last Monday on the south steps of the Capitol to participate in a national day of protest and criticize President Donald Trump’s administration.
Carrying signs and flags, they pushed back against Trump’s most divisive policies, including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its billionaire leader Elon Musk, and to ensure a division remains between church and state.
Terri Acquaviva of Edmond carried a sign that read “Lock him up.”
“Everything that he (Trump) is doing right now in our government is unconstitutional and it needs to be stopped,” she said. “He doesn’t have the authority to go in and change, overhaul agencies and departments, and that concerns me.” Just weeks into his second term, the Trump administration has taken a series of sweeping actions aimed at cutting $2 trillion in federal spending through Musk’s DOGE.
The administration halted work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and began dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, which received a $40 billion congressional appropriation in 2023. It also attempted to limit the use of research funding from the National Institutes of Health for indirect costs, and has paused or canceled funding on a variety of programs, including those that benefit agricultural producers.
Last week, the Trump administration fired thousands of probationary federal employees in an effort to reduce the government’s 2.4 million-person workforce. “We need to stop the oligarchy from taking our rights away,” said Kris Buckley of Oklahoma City. “I feel like the billionaires are running the government and if we don’t stand up to them, we are going to lose our freedom.”
Buckley attended the protest with his husband, Ezequiel and child, Lyle, 14.
Ezequiel Buckley carried a sign that said “Dump Trump.”
“We want him out of office,” Ezequiel Buckley said. “He stands for everything that we don’t stand for. Racism. Misogynistic ideology.”
Trump quickly signed an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in federal hiring and spending.
The U.S. Department of Education last week also threatened to rescind federal funding for schools that rely on race-conscious practices.
Regina Ketola of Oklahoma City said she was protesting what she views as “the rise of facism in the Trump government.”
Ketola said she supports the rule of law, U.S. Constitution and checks and balances.
“The current administration is putting themselves above the law and disregarding checks and balances,” she said.
Trump administration policies regarding birthright citizenship, immigration, federal employment, DOGE and others are facing a plethora of legal challenges. One analysis shows there’s 74 lawsuits challenging them.
Katie Baxter of Oklahoma City carried a sign that said “Get your church out of my state.”
Baxter said she was worried about the separation of church and state and human rights in general.
“I want Christians to have the freedom to be Christian, but I also want the same freedom to not pursue that if it’s my choice,” she said.
“I don’t want our children indoctrinated into religions that might not serve them.
“We have beautiful Islamic families, beautiful Buddhist families, all kinds of people, and they should have the freedom to do what serves them and their heritage, rather than being forced to adhere to a religion that doesn’t serve them.”
Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.
