Workers whose jobs have been directly impacted by federal government cuts protested President Donald Trump’s administration during May Day on Thursday evening.
Hundreds of people lined Virginia Street in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Reno. Demonstrators held American flags and signs that read, “Not paid, just pissed off,” alluding to leaked audio of Governor Joe Lombardo accusing the 50501 movement of paying protesters.
Among them is Terese Jay, who was protesting for the first time. She lost her job after Renown’s Crisis Care Center’s federal grant funding was terminated.
“We were helping so many mental health crises per day. A lot of the people that we were helping, we’re relieving that from the emergency department,” Jay said. “So, when people go to the emergency department for mental health, that floods where others are having to wait longer. That's what the crisis center was supposed to do, was relieve that.”
Federal cuts have impacted much more than that in Nevada, from health and food pantries to services for seniors.
On Monday, Sara Ross had to lay off 10 employees she oversaw at AmeriCorps. They were among the 163 Nevadans who lost their jobs after the president terminated federal funding for the national service program.
“Our program was financial literacy, trying to help people learn the basics that we don't get taught in school, to be able to take care of themselves,” Ross said.
She’s been protesting frequently, and she said these protests help bring people together who feel unseen.
“It fortifies us and gives us energy to know that there are other people that are fighting with us, and in a red state like Nevada, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one and that you have to look over your shoulder,” Ross said.
Lori Bunton said she’s fighting for democracy and equal rights, and that May Day is a fitting time for the protest against the president and his administration.
“Mayday is the universal symbol of distress,” Bunton said. “It's all hands on deck.”
Many demonstrators also said they’re extremely worried about due process being ignored, including for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a union worker who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, and Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested for helping a person without legal status evade arrest.
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