The Democratic senator, who has sometimes crossed party lines to back parts of the president’s agenda, faced criticism from protestors outside of his Downtown Pittsburgh field office Wednesday.
By Quinn Glabicki
Public Source
February 5, 2025 - Scores of Pittsburghers gathered in front of the Federal Building, Downtown, on Wednesday to protest the early days of the second Trump administration, the influence of tech mogul billionaire Elon Musk, and the role of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, who has embraced parts of Trump’s agenda.
Protestors criticized the role and influence of tech billionaire Elon Musk within the Trump administration at a protest in Pittsburgh Wednesday.
They also opposed the genocide in Gaza
At half past noon, organizer Kali McLaughlin, who is affiliated with Indivisible, the progressive grassroots campaign organizing against President Donald Trump’s agenda, addressed the crowd through a megaphone aimed at the senator’s closed local office.
“Fetterman, the time for action is now!” McLaughlin said. “We will be heard. You will hear us. We will fight for America. Will you?” McLaughlin laid out a list of demands, amounting to one theme: blanket opposition. “No cooperation with Trump’s power grab.”
“There is no excuse for Senate Democrats to be confirming any of Trump’s nominees for any agency while this power grab continues. Just vote no every time!”
As McLaughlin spoke, in Washington D.C., Fetterman voted yes to confirm Trump’s pick for Housing and Urban Development secretary, drawing the ire of fellow Democrats and local protestors alike.
“Fetterman! Fetterman! Do your job!” The crowd of about 80 then chanted in unison, as passing cars honked in support.
Organizer Kali McLaughlin addressed the crowd in front of U.S. Sen John Fetterman’s closed Pittsburgh field office Wednesday: “We will be heard,” McLaughlin demanded. “You will hear us. We will fight for America. Will you?”
Fetterman voted no, however, on Trump nominee Russell Vought to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, whose nomination advanced to a final vote Wednesday.
The demonstration was the first significant organized opposition to the fast-moving Trump administration to emerge in Pittsburgh since Trump’s inauguration. Part of a national protest push, it took on a local spin by also focusing on Fetterman, whose political career began when he was mayor of Braddock.
Fetterman’s office did not provide requested comment.
Monet Thornton found Wednesday’s protest on Reddit. A federal worker, Thornton said they are personally affected by the uncertainty surrounding federal grants, and went unpaid for the several days while the Trump administration briefly froze federal funding.
Volunteers gathered signatures for Not on Our Dime, a campaign seeking to amend Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter and divest city funds from “governments engaged in genocide or apartheid.”
As the crowd rallied, volunteers gathered signatures for Not on Our Dime, a campaign seeking to amend Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter and divest city funds from “governments engaged in genocide or apartheid.” A day earlier, on Tuesday, Trump proposed that the United States occupy Gaza.
Organizer Sydney W., who declined to give a last name, described the people gathered Wednesday as part of a broad coalition of concerned citizens who “see the danger” in the conservative Heritage Foundation’s policy blueprint, Project 2025, and the president’s recent executive orders.
“We want this stopped,” the organizer said. “We want our state representatives to fight against this with the power we know they have.”
The movement began on Reddit and spread online on Discord, Instagram and Facebook. Similar protests took place in Harrisburg and Philadelphia and across the U.S. Wednesday.
Kate Wenc stands with a pride flag outside of the Federal Building in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Kate Wenc, a student at Duquesne University, stood wrapped in a Pride flag in front of the Federal Building. “I believe in the mission,” Wenc said. “We should be fighting back against Trump’s agenda against immigrants and LGBTQ people.”
Quinn Glabicki is the environment and climate reporter at PublicSource and a Report for America corps member. He can be reached at quinn@publicsource.org and on Instagram and X @quinnglabicki.
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