The national protest, sometimes called the Fifty State Protest or 50501, was organized by users of Reddit, Threads and TikTok during the past week with the hashtag #50501, signifying the goal of showing solidarity across fifty states and fifty capitals in one day. The hashtag also comes with the message "We the people reject Project 2025."
Trump, who had major campaign donors behind Project 2025, has already taken drastic action on a wide range of issues mentioned in the policy playbook, including orders targeting immigration, transgender people and climate change. On his first day in office, Trump signed executive orders that end gender transitions for people under nineteen, suspend refugee and asylum seeker admissions, and withdraw from the Paris climate agreements, among other things.
"There's a lot of us that aren't happy," says protest organizer and Denver resident Jeffrey Sowell.
"There's a lot of us that aren't happy," says protest organizer and Denver resident Jeffrey Sowell.
According to Sowell, many of the White House's new policies were first suggested in Project 2025, and he wants to show a united voice against the right wing political initiative. As the expected number of protesters continues to grow, here's what you need to know about the details of the 50 State Protest in Denver and Project 2025:
When and Where Is the 50 State Protest in Denver?
Social media users have agreed on meeting at the Colorado State Capitol at noon on February 5, for the protest. The event is scheduled to take place until 8 p.m. to give people who work that day a chance to drop by, but most of the action starts around noon, Sowell says.The date of the protest is meant to reflect the protest's target, Project 2025, as the date has the number two and five in it.
Sowell says that a few local groups plan take part, but he can only confirm that Resistance 5280 is involved. Sowell isn't the head organizer, having only pulled the permits, and gives credit to Denver social media users as the main organizers.
"It just got me angry enough to leave the basement," Sowell says. "I saw a bunch of other people organizing on Reddit, and they were mentioning going on the Capitol steps.... I felt like if we're going, we need to be safe. So I added the permit for it."
The protest should be safe, Sowell adds; anyone planning to join is encouraged to bring snacks, signs and medical supplies. Sowell urges Denver residents to bring flags from whichever country they want to represent but in particular, he encourates United States flags, because he doesn't want Trump supporters to own that symbol.
Denver Location of 50 State Protest
byu/Actual_BLUE_Patriot inDenver
"America is a melting pot. We want people to bring flags to show their American pride," Sowell says. "The other side can't own that. We are also Americans, and we believe in America. We believe in the way America is. We love freedom. We love our neighbors unconditionally."
The permit Sowell secured for the event allows as many as 1,000 people to be at the Capitol steps. No march is planned for the event, but Sowell says that some organizers are thinking about leading one.
Instead of using his real name, Sowell pulled the permits under the name "Dumbledore's Army," a secret group from the Harry Potter series that teaches kids to defend against the dark arts.
"They're trying to resist against a similar situation," Sowell explains. "They were basically getting shut down, so they organized to defend themselves."
"They're trying to resist against a similar situation," Sowell explains. "They were basically getting shut down, so they organized to defend themselves."
What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a 900-page document published in April 2022 that laid out priorities for President Donald Trump if he were to win his re-election — which he did in November 2024. It suggested securing the border, increasing oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice, and increasing American oil and energy production, according to the Heritage Foundation.But the American Civil Liberties Union charges that the policies suggested in Project 2025 include "gutting abortion access" as well as mass deportations and making the presidency more powerful and less accountable.
Sowell says that he was stirred to get involved because he sees Trump making Project 2025 a reality. "The first things that he's done with those executive orders came straight out of the playbook," he says. Sowell read Project 2025 in its entirety, and describes it as "a rage-inducing document."
"I feel like everyone should read it, because there's a lot of people out there that voted for it that don't know what's in there," he says. "There's no one safe in that document unless you're a billionaire. There's something in there that's going to hurt you."
Who Is This Protest for?
The protest targets Project 2025, but Sowell says it's also for people who "want their voices heard" if they feel attacked by President Trump."We're standing for refugees and immigrant rights. We're standing for women and women's reproductive rights. We're standing for education, and we're standing for the LGBTQ community," Sowell says. "All those things that all these executive orders are targeting already, we've fought for the last century for a lot of these things, and they're just being destroyed in the stroke of a pen."
Sowell will be at the Colorado Capitol to support education and people living in the Gaza Strip, where his wife is working. He adds that he hopes the protests nationwide show the world that plenty of Americans are upset with the Trump presidency.
"What I keep seeing online is other countries seeing all the Harris supporters aren't doing anything, that no one's out there, no one's protesting all this stuff that's happening, like we're content with what's happening," he says. "We're trying to show the world we don't like what's happening."
