Protesters march around Downtown Altoona as part of nationwide “Hands Off!” protests against actions by the Trump administration on Saturday. Mirror photo by William Kibler

Altoona held its version of the nationwide “Hands Off!” protest against the Trump administration Saturday, with speeches at Heritage Plaza, followed by a march around downtown.

After heavy rain ceased prior to the noon start, 500 people showed up to express worry and anger over alleged Constitutional violations, attacks on and defiance of federal judges, lawsuits against mainstream media organizations, firing of federal workers, dismantling of federal agencies, rollback of environmental protections, threats to reduce funding for Medicaid and other programs, deportation of legal non-citizens who’ve expressed support for Palestine, alienation of allies around the world, a baleful outlook toward marginalized communities and imposition of extraordinary tariffs.

“We’re witnessing democracy being chipped away,” said Genie Hanelly of Hollidaysburg. “Weakened — so we can be ruled.”

“The way the government is running now is not who we are,” said Marti McIntire of Roaring Spring. “We’re better than this.”

Carol Taylor, former Democratic candidate for Blair County commissioner, organized the event and spoke at the plaza.

“We’re under siege,” Taylor said. “Are we going to stand for it?”

“No!” the crowd responded.

“Real lives are being ruined,” said Bob Kutz, longtime president of the Blair-Bedford Central Labor Council, who introduced Phil Glover, national vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees District 3 — many of whose members have been targeted in the federal layoffs.

By such ruinous actions, led by Trump ally Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, “a whole group of people who were just dormant” have been “awakened,” Kutz said.

“We’ve got to stop letting this MAGA crowd run over us,” Glover told the crowd. “We need to step up.”

That means symbolically taking back the American flag as an emblem of belonging from the MAGA adherents who have appropriated it, Glover said.

“You have a right to carry that flag,” he stated. “No matter who you are.”

The crowd skewed older than the average for Blair County.

Retiree Dave Galbraith was there with his wife.

He’s concerned about the solvency of Social Security, Medicare and his Individual Retirement Account, he said.

Bill Kelley of Tyrone, 69, also retired, is also concerned about those programs — as is Larry Hanelly, Genie’s husband.

The recent elimination of lots of Social Security support workers betrays a plan to undermine the program, so that beneficiaries needing help will grow frustrated and give up, enabling the administration to claim dysfunction, thus justifying privatization, Larry Hanelly said.

Saturday’s protest and march was a way to show “Trump and his cronies there are people who will stand up,” said Frank McIntire, Marti’s husband.

“There are times when a man has to stand up for what is right,” said protest speaker Tracy Brown, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Blair County Chapter of the NAACP.

“Down with the king,” Brown said, referring to Trump.

“They want us to be silent,” said speaker Michael Kensinger, president of the Juniata Valley Audubon Society — a gay man whose character was molded by being “pushed around and bullied” while growing up, he said. “(But) you ain’t going to shut me up,” he stated.

There were scattered groups of younger people in the crowd.

Sydney Quinn, 21, a Penn State Altoona student from Elk County who is a transgender woman, was part of one such group.

Before Trump took office a second time, Quinn thought things would be bad, because Trump was telling everyone what he planned to do, she said.

Her acquaintances thought otherwise, figuring Trump was exaggerating, she said.

Reality has proven her right, Quinn said.

As a trans woman, she’s scared, she said.

A local hospital has stated that it won’t provide care for trans individuals under 19 — a likely prelude for not providing care for any trans person, she predicted.

Also concerning are the deportations, Quinn said.

In one case, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University was snatched off the street in Boston for co-writing an op-ed in the university newspaper calling for the university to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from companies with ties to Israel, according to an Associated Press story.

In another, an El Salvador national living in Maryland on a legal work permit was mistakenly sent to a notorious prison in his native country as part of a gang-related roundup, and has remained there in spite of a federal judge’s order to the administration to retrieve him — something the administration says it lacks the power to do.

Such deportations represent a “slippery slope” that could eventually become a catchment for other people who aren’t yet as vulnerable foreign nationals, according to Jordan Simmons, 21, a Penn State Altoona student from Philadelphia and also a trans woman with Quinn’s group.

Yet another group member, Clay Lee, 18, a Penn State Altoona student from Baltimore and an Asian trans man, worries about his parents, who weren’t born in the U.S.

Myka Hoover, 21, a trans woman from Altoona, and also part of the group, who has been disowned by her parents and stepfather, feels that the Trump administration is helping create an atmosphere in which she is hated for “being myself.”

Altoona resident and local activist Tim Smith was pleased in principle to witness Saturday’s event.

“Dissent is patriotic,” Smith said. “It’s wonderful for people to come out to petition their government in a safe environment” — one that the presence of several Altoona police officers helped guarantee, he said.

The event was an example of how the First Amendment functions as a “pressure valve,” Smith said.

It’s a way of releasing buildup of resistance in a controlled way that would otherwise lead to an explosion, he said.

Given their dissatisfaction with “the major shift” that resulted from the last presidential election — a lawful result — the protestors simply need to “find a better candidate” who can prevail in the next election, Smith said.

“Today was amazing,” Taylor said after it was over. “The energy of unified action gave us some hope we can still influence the government for better.”

She was grateful that the rain stopped, she said.

She was also grateful for the Altoona police.

“(They) gave us a sense of security and safety,” she said. “They were absolutely outstanding.”

“It was a calm, peaceful event,” said Lt. William Hanelly, one of several officers keeping watch.

“No issues,” said Sgt. Patrick Tomassetti.

There were a few counter protesters who engaged briefly with some marchers, but the exchanges were civil, Hanelly said.

The Mirror left messages asking for comment with two Republican lawmakers, two Republican City Council members and an official with the Blair County Republican Committee, but received no comments for the story.