Large crowds took to Centennial Park on Saturday to protest federal funding cuts, steep import tariffs, civil rights violations and potential constitutional violations by Donald Trump’s current presidential administration. Many protesters also singled out tech billionaire Elon Musk, accusing both Trump and Musk of commandeering American democracy for personal profit.
National progressive group Indivisible convened the Centennial Park event at noon on Saturday in conjunction with more than 1,300 “Hands Off!” protests against the Trump administration across the country. One patrolling Metro Nashville Police Department officer told the Scene that police estimated total attendance at 1,500 people. Despite the event's proximity to downtown and the city's many college campuses, older attendees appeared to greatly outnumber young people.
A separately planned town hall with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren followed at 2 p.m. at Pearl-Cohn High School. While Nashville’s mayor is technically a nonpartisan office, O’Connell publicly endorsed Warren’s presidential campaign in February 2020.
Crowds gather at Centennial Park to protest the Trump administration, April 5, 2025
At both events, signs, cheers and speeches veered in many directions, united broadly under attendees’ opposition to drastic measures taken by the federal government 10 weeks into Donald Trump’s second presidential term. Many told the Scene they showed up to fight a feeling of powerlessness and paralysis brought on by recent news headlines. Warren specifically drew local residents frustrated with Tennessee’s almost entirely Republican congressional delegation. (U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis is the state's only Democratic representative at the federal level.)
“It’s been overwhelming to see what has been happening, and I knew if I came to see her, I’d feel motivated to pick a place to start and get going,” said Heather Sublett, a Sumner County resident who mentioned recent Trump decisions around foreign policy, tariffs and mass deportations. “It's not the Democratic party that radicalizes me. It's the Republican Party and the Republican politicians that radicalize me.”
Warren focused her message on strengthening the American middle class and skewered Trump and the GOP for giving handouts to the wealthy.
“It is time for the federal government, instead of investing in millionaires, to invest and make a partner with our communities that want to build more housing,” said Warren over raucous applause in the Pearl-Cohn gym. “We can help make families more secure. It’s time to say on Social Security that millionaires and billionaires should pay their fair share.”
See photos from both events by Hamilton Matthew Masters above.
