A national anti-Trump movement brought together Valley residents at the Augusta County Courthouse in downtown Staunton on Monday.
They want President Donald Trump out of the Oval Office and the U.S. Constitution protected.
A crowd of more than 200 stood in front of the historic courthouse on Johnson Street with signs and chanted “Dump Trump,” “Who has the power? The people have the power,” “Ben Cline, do your job,” and “We are not going back.”
“They’re violating the oath of office every day,” said Bob, a U.S. Army veteran who served in the 1970s. He added that the Trump administration is “harming everybody, including veterans.”
Bob, who lives in Staunton, wants to preserve and protect the U.S. Constitution.
Amanda Tembhurne and her husband attended today’s protest after reading about it last week on Augusta Free Press.
“The coup that’s happening,” she said of why they attended. “Elon Musk, DOGE, the lack of actual information being put out, especially by the mainstream media. The lies that Ben Cline is putting out on their behalf.”
According to Tembhurne, who works in technology, as well as her husband, Musk has been making up technology terms.
“I’ve never seen him post anything that makes any sense,” she said. 
Sara Lovelace, 47, of Staunton and her mother, Pat Hunt, 77, also of Staunton, attended the protest for the same concerns. Hunt said she is most concerned about the SAVE Act stripping women of the right to vote.
“I just have a lot of concerns about what DOGE is doing,” Lovelace said. She is also worried for civil servants working for the federal government who may lose their jobs because of Trump. “At every level, they’re interfering with American life.”
Lovelace, who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s election, said she was glad to see Monday’s turnout.
“No matter how large or small the protest, it’s nice to be around people who are pushing back,” Lovelace said. “Elon is not our king.”
Maggie Cannariato said she is most concerned about vulnerable members of the community, including LGBTQ+, low income, immigrants and minorities.
“I think I’m most concerned about all of our most vulnerable populations suffering, dying of lack of food, while billionaires steal from our taxpayers, from our government, while they have this money that they’re never going to spend in a trillion lifetimes and that’s a sin,” Cannariato said.
Monday’s protest was organized by two Staunton women as part of the 50501 Movement protest, which began on February 5 with a National Day of Protest. Mary, a co-organizer, said some women wore red lipstick in solidarity to Monday’s protest as an homage to women who have resisted fascism in the past.
According to author Gabriela Hernandez, who wrote “Classic Beauty: The History of Makeup,” German dictator Adolf Hitler disliked red lipstick, which he thought contained animal fat from sewage. He forbade women to wear red lipstick around him and the lip color became a symbol for women of defiance in opposition to beauty standards. In 1933, when Hitler became chancellor of Germany, the Nazi Party strongly opposed the emancipation of women.
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Rebecca Barnabi
