Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the Nevada Capitol in Carson City on Feb. 5, 2025.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
More than 100 protesters from across Nevada showed up at the Capitol in Carson City on Wednesday to decry what they viewed as abuses of power under the new Trump administration.
The protest was one of many around the nation linked to a movement called 50 Protests, 50 States, One Day. The Associated Press reported the protests were organized under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501.
The Carson protest echoed the early days of Trump’s first presidency when “resist” became a motto for opposition movements. One protest sign on Wednesday read, “Not Going Back,” while another said, “In America, Love Wins.”
During the protest, at 2:07 p.m., Carson City Sheriff’s Deputies were notified of a dispute involving a motorist and a group of protesters at the Capitol Grounds. A protester alleged that a firearm was pointed at them by a passing motorist.
All parties to the events, including the motorist, have been identified and an investigation is underway. There is no ongoing threat to the public and no other people of interest are being sought.
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the Carson City Sheriff’s Office at 775-283-7815.
Protection of LGBTQ and immigrant rights were on the minds of many protesters as was criticism of tech mogul Elon Musk, who was tapped by Trump to run the new Department of Government Efficiency and has been a vocal Trump ally on his social media platform, X.
“I’m just unhappy with what Elon Musk is doing, destroying departments with Trump’s backing,” said Gary Link, 70, of Eureka.
Link said he didn’t want the country “taken over by billionaires.”
Jennifer Rau of Reno, 57, shared this fear.
“We’re fighting for democracy. We did not vote for Elon Musk,” she said. “Regardless of how people voted in the past presidential election, we did not vote for Elon to take over the government.”
Rau said Democrats and Republicans need to stick together and fight because “we have so much to lose as a country.”
Next to Rau was Zephyr Cove resident Afrime Ottaway, 57, who worried the federal government’s intrusion into LGBTQ and gender rights, such as Trump’s executive order prohibiting gender-affirming care for those under 19, would create “a pathway to do that to everyone.”
Ottaway said people don’t think “trans issues” affect them.
“It’s the first step of many into everyone’s healthcare,” Ottaway said.
Marty Meeden from Gardnerville, 65, described the protest as “heartfelt.”
“I want to help people. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is,” Meeden said. “I want to be out here and be a voice. I don’t want someone to say he was against it but didn’t do anything.”
Meeden was critical of Trump’s immigration policies, emphasizing the history of immigration in the United States. Of Washoe and Paiute descent, Meeden maintained that being anti-immigrant would mean that everyone in the U.S. except Native Americans would need to leave.
In an X post shared by Musk on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance addressed claims that no one voted for Musk. In a parenthetical statement, Vance wrote: “They did however vote for Donald Trump who promised repeatedly to have Elon Musk root out wasteful spending in our government.”