BOISE, Idaho — Thousands of demonstrators showed up at the Idaho State Capital on Saturday for the Hands Off Rally as people voiced their frustration at the current administration at the federal and the state level.
Signs were everywhere, but a majority of them focused on President Trump and Elon Musk as people are upset over the Doge and the federal layoffs, the administration's foreign policy and most recently the tariffs.
"We all have to stand together, we are all being put upon by our president and Elon Musk," said Amber Vonacker, a demonstrator. "We have to fight for ourselves and our own rights look what happened to the stock market the last two days, it is going to hurt us all."
I ran into a probationary worker who lost her job working for the Bureau of Reclamation in Minidoka near Burley. Tara Hallman previously worked for the National Parks Service, but now she's looking for a new job.
"I’ve already dedicated my life for the past ten years to the federal government and thought that gave me a stable job and work for a high level agency," said Hallman. "Unfortunately, that has all ended."
The Hands Off Rally was organized by Idaho 50501, Indivisible and the League of Women Voters of Idaho. However, another organization that promotes women's rights while standing against sexual violence, victim blaming and rape culture had the Capital reserved on Saturday.
Slutwalk Boise is part of an international protest and they decided to share the space while marching from Boise City Hall to the Statehouse. The organization got an ovation as they approached from the other demonstrators.
"Awesome, this Idaho at its best," said Carol Mulder, another demonstrator. "I think we all need to have hands off bodies and we need the current administration out of our lives."
The rally also focused on the Idaho State Legislature which ended the 2025 session on Friday. In generic terms thousands of people came down to the rally for a variety of different reasons.
"People are upset and that is why you are seeing this turnout," said Vonacker. "This is red Idaho and I’m fine with that, this turnout shows you that people are upset. We have to try to band together and tell our government we don’t like what they are doing."
There was a significant police presence at the rally, but while we were there the rally was peaceful.
