50501 Protest in St. Paul
Demonstrations at the Minnesota State Capitol opposing Project 2025 and federal leadership
February 5, 2025 — Minnesota State Capitol — St. Paul, MN
Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on February 5, 2025, as part of the 50501 Movement — a coordinated nationwide effort that organized protests in all fifty states on the same day. The demonstration focused on actions taken by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the early weeks of the new administration.
The 50501 Movement took its name from its stated goal of fifty protests across fifty states with a single day of action. Participants in St. Paul directed their concerns at the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Musk outside of any confirmed Senate approval, and at policies tied to Project 2025, a governing blueprint that critics argue would concentrate executive power and reduce federal services that lower-income Americans depend on.
The St. Paul rally was one stop in a chain of protests that had been building since Trump's January 2025 inauguration, as opponents of the new administration moved quickly from election-season organizing into street-level opposition. That broader arc of protest — tracked across this archive's Minneapolis Protests series — had already included demonstrations against specific executive orders and cabinet appointments, and the 50501 action represented one of its first attempts at a single, nationally synchronized moment of dissent.
