There were more than 1,300 national protests throughout the country over the weekend, all aimed at policies and actions by the Trump administration. An estimated 58 of those were held in cities throughout Ohio.
Democratic-leading groups organized "Hands Off" rallies in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Bowling Green and other cities to send a message to President Trump and his administration to keep their hands off government programs.
In Delaware—the seat of what used to be one of the most Republican counties in the state—hundreds gathered on the four corners in the middle of the town.
“I believe we are headed in a disastrous direction whether you are talking about the economy or our foreign affairs or education or just about any topic you can imagine," said Tony Hull of Delaware, one of those who turned out to protest. "Everything feels like it’s being dismantled in a bad way and I feel like that’s a bad thing for the country."
“I’m horrified about the gutting of the Department of Education," said Hull's wife, April, a retired teacher. "I don’t think people realize how they are going to be affected, but they will be."
Fellow Delaware resident Barbara Hard said she's concerned that the federal judges are being removed or stepping aside in the face of adversity.
“I’m very concerned about what is being done to our judges to make that co-equal branch of government look like it is fascist and anti-American and that’s the way democracies start to crumble. When you beat down the legal system that’s kind of the first step, so I want hands off our legal system." Hard said.
Though Delaware County voted for Trump over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris last November, few in the crowd said they voted for Trump. But many said they know people who did based on his promise to improve the economy.
Judy Carpenter of Delaware said Trump needs to do what he promised voters before the November election.
“I don’t think President Trump is doing the things he said he would do that would bring down costs which I totally understood," Carpenter said. "I didn’t vote for Trump but I think he bamboozled people and now people are upset."
This weekend's protests appeared to be the most widespread in Ohio since Trump took office in January. Some of those have been at the Statehouse, where Democrats have also protested new bills being adopted by the state's Republican-dominated legislature.
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