The Kennebec County Democratic Committee pulled its support from a planned protest outside the State Capitol in Augusta on Wednesday that was held as part of a “50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Day” movement nation-wide because of concerns about “infiltrators,” a county party leader said.
“I am deeply saddened to report that The Kennebec County Dems have pulled their permit for the event tomorrow and are canceling,” a Facebook post by the Knox Maine Democrats announced, adding “They agreed only yesterday and get a permit to legitimize what had been a poorly defined and, some people believe suspect movement.”
That post went on to say that “apparently some ‘bad actors’ had reposted the flyers with an added URL link to a pedophile site.”
By Thursday, Kennebec County Democrats chair Joann Mason’s post appears to have been removed, but other county committees posted warnings about the event like this one:
Regardless, more than 100 progressives rallied outside the statehouse on Wednesday afternoon to give voice to an array of complaints about recent Trump administration policies and the role of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk in reviewing the performance of, and potentially shutting down, some government agencies.
“We’re here and we spun this up very quickly, so if we’re a little disorganized, that’s ok because we’re just the American people and we’re angry that these things are happening,” event organizer Nicholas Jackson said.
Nation-wide, the movement held protests in dozens of state capitals under the ostensibly common goal to “fight fascism” and “defend democracy,” according to media reports.
The decision by local Democrats to distance themselves from the protest sparked frustration among those who turned out, according to media reports. In other parts of the country, Democrat officials have been less reticent about joining the 50-50-1 protests, and earlier this week several members of Congress picketed outside USAID’s shuttered headquarters.
Unrelated to Wednesday’s rally but reflective of the predicament many Democrats face in how to “resist” the Trump administration, Second District U.S. Representative Jared Golden (D) called Musk an “unelected weirdo” in a post on X yesterday. Rep. Golden, whose district voted for Trump, has at the same time been wary of criticizing the president directly in recent weeks.
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