Schuylkill County Democrats Stage Protest in Pottsville Against Trump, Musk

About 80 Democrats from Schuylkill County staged a protest against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in downtown Pottsville Saturday afternoon.

Posted at the intersection of Centre and W. Market streets in the city, the Democrats occupied three corners of it. A lone counter-protester was set up at one corner of the intersection.

The protesters yelled and chanted against what they believe are injustices and illegal acts committed by Trump’s administration, and specifically Musk.

“We’re very proud of the turnout today and I think this is a good sign of things to come,” Todd Zimmerman, chairman of the Schuylkill County Democrat Committee, said as the protest was coming to an end. “People do not like overreach. “We want to find a balance. It’s hard to find that balance and sometimes there’s overreach on the Democrat side. Sometimes there’s overreach on the Republican side and everybody wants something in between.”

Many of the protesters rallied against the injustices they see coming from the Trump administration. But one of the main focuses of Saturday’s demonstration was Musk and the work he’s doing with DOGE, the Dept. of Government Efficiency.

“There is obviously fraud in government and we have no problem with trying to fix that but when you take a hatchet, or as Elon Musk says, an electric chainsaw, you know, that’s too much,” Zimmerman added.

Roseann Weinrich, of Ashland, held a sign at Saturday’s protest that read: Trump: Making Russia Great Again. Instead of the ‘u’ in Trump’s name, there was a Soviet-inspired hammer and sickle.

Her reason for coming out to Saturday’s demonstration in Pottsville was more general, believing the President is eroding her rights.

She said, “Our Constitution is being shredded. I’m here to make a statement. There is no king. He is a dictator.”

Colleen Kucirka, with the Eastern Schuylkill Democrats, echoed those thoughts. She told The Canary, “We learned history in junior high and we know what can happen when someone like Trump is in office. If people aren’t out to stand up for our rights and the way things we’re used to, it could be turned into something that might not ever get to be turned back.”

Getting more specific on what rights Trump is threatening, Claire Kempes of the Schuylkill County Democrat Committee and Schuylkill County Democrat Women’s League, said she feels voting rights and LGBTQ rights are under attack by the current administration in Washington.

“Project 2025 is really taking away a lot of rights,” Kempes said. “Their whole thing with DEI, making that be evil … It’s not evil. It’s just trying to level the playing ground.”

Kucirka said she believed the Save the Voting Act, if passed, will “disenfranchise most of all women voters. It’s going to make all these women have to jump through hoops just to be able to vote.”

Both she and Kempes also took aim at Musk.

“I didn’t vote for him, did you,” Kempes asked. “And yet, he has been given all of our records.

“I understand that there’s waste,” she added. “But the way they went about it was brutal and not productive.”

Local Democrats said they are planning future protests

Subscribe to Coal Region Canary

Get email updates from Coal Region Canary by becoming a subscriber today. Just enter your email address below to get started!

Support Coal Region Canary

Like our reporting and want to support truly local news in Schuylkill County? Your small donations help. For as little as $5, your contribution will allow us to cover more news that directly affects you. Consider donating today by hitting the big yellow button below ...