Justine Overacker, fired USGS employee, among anti-Trump protesters on March 4.
Hundreds of protesters lined both sides of Carson Street in downtown Carson City on Tuesday denouncing the Trump administration’s policies.
The protest was ostensibly organized by https://www.fiftyfifty.one/, which is a grassroots peaceful movement, according to the website. Tuesday marked the third protest in the capital city since President Donald Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20.
Shane Scott, 31, of Washoe County was one of the protest organizers at an informational table set up near the Capitol. Scott and other organizers estimated there were 500 to 1,000 protesters.
“Well, things are getting worse,” Scott said of the Trump administration.
Scott worried Trump’s recent pause in aid to Ukraine was “a serious emergency” that threatened to undo NATO and start World War III.
“We need to continue to support Ukraine,” Scott said.
Ukrainian flags were among many flags being waved along Carson Street. Justine Overacker was holding an American flag and a sign saying, “Save Our Sciences.”
Overacker had worked on groundwater issues and aquifer recharge and depletion at the Truckee field office of the USGS California Water Science Center before being fired last month with thousands of other federal probationary employees — part of the administration’s effort to downsize the federal government.
“(They’re) decimating the federal workforce — highly educated and qualified scientists who make sure there is water for our area, clean water,” Overacker said, stressing federal employees are trying to serve their country.
Asked if there were any counterprotests taking place, one protest organizer, who didn’t want to be identified, said counterprotests showed only in the form of thumbs down from motorists.
Four Carson City Sheriff’s Office personnel were on scene, on motorcycles, and reported no issues with the crowd as of 1:30 p.m.
In a Truth Social post on Monday addressing the ongoing Russian Ukrainian war, Trump claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn’t want peace “as long as he has America’s backing.”
Trump delivered a televised address to a joint session of Congress. Toward the end of his address Trump read from a letter from Zelenskyy he said he had received earlier in the day.
“The letter reads Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer,” Trump said. “Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians ... My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.”
On Monday, Trump ordered a “pause” in U.S. assistance to Ukraine.