Another 50501 protest, part of a grassroots movement that has been organizing gatherings in all 50 states to protest the actions of the Trump administration, took place in front of the Capitol on Saturday, May 3. The term 50501 refers to 50 protests in 50 states as part of one movement that encourages people to get involved in their communities.
“It’s not like this is a business or organization where you have one person in charge of everything nationally,” said Kelley Hatlee, who has helped organize the recent Springfield protests. “I attended the protest at the Capitol organized by 50501 on President’s Day; I went there with my son as a protester.”
Hatlee said he started posting information on Facebook about the movement and was invited to become a moderator, then an administrator and then an organizer. He said Tristan Sites, a Lincoln resident who helped organize the first few Springfield events, is now helping to coordinate activities at the state level and Hatlee has taken over logistics for the Springfield protests.
An initial protest in Springfield was held Feb. 5, one of dozens of protests that took place across the nation that day. A second Springfield protest took place Feb. 17 with the theme “No Kings on President’s Day.” The most recent protest was promoted as “Impeach, Convict, Remove.”
In all, a total of seven 50501 protests have taken place in Springfield, with a “Defend the Constitution” gathering scheduled for June 6 and another protest planned for June 14.
The participants at the May 3 protest included people who identified themselves as Democrats, independents and former Republicans who are all upset with recent federal actions.
A 76-year-old woman said she took the city bus from Springfield Supportive Living to attend the rally. She told IT she hasn’t attended protest rallies since the 1960s but showed up because she wants President Donald Trump and his whole group out of office.
A 72-year-old woman said she considers herself an independent and had never been to a protest before this one. She said her relatives fought in the Revolutionary War, World War II and Vietnam, with many of her family members giving their “heart and soul for freedom; Trump has no concerns about that.”
One woman told IT that the election has divided her family. Her husband and son voted for Trump and are part of the MAGA movement, while she initially considered herself to be a Democrat before more recently feeling that the Democrats have moved too far left. She said she’d like to see a candidate representing the middle ground. “If there were a good Republican I’d vote for that person. We need to respect each other; it’s scary what’s happening without due process,” she said.
Hatlee said he sees momentum building. “There are so many protests now, they’re everywhere. The 50501 movement overall is absolutely growing, and protests in general are growing, too.” He noted that protests in large cities have drawn crowds of 30,000-50,000 people.
Hatlee said the April 5 protest drew the largest crowd so far in Springfield, which he estimated at around 1,000 people.
“The Peoria group was just getting off the ground, but they didn’t have enough volunteers to put together their own event on April 5, so a lot of the people from Peoria came here for that one,” Hatlee said. “Now they’re having their own events.”
Hatlee said he’s heard the feedback about it being difficult to find information on the 50501 protests.
“Our main communication channel with the public is Facebook, although we’re using a lot of different platforms – we’re on Reddit, Bluesky,” he said. The public Facebook page is 50501 Illinois, and Hatlee said there is also a private group, IL 50501. He said information about upcoming local gatherings is posted on the national website, fiftyfifty.one.
“People are waking up and realizing we’ve got to do something,” Hatlee said. “Some people are concerned, thinking that protests aren’t going to make any difference, but they absolutely do. It’s a visual statement and it influences popular opinion and the politicians. It absolutely matters for people to show up and let their voices be heard.”
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