DELHI — As part of a nationwide demonstration, more 200 Delaware County residents gathered at Delhi’s Courthouse Square on April 5 for the Hands Off! Rally, calling on the presidential administration to protect Social Security, free speech, libraries, and the judicial system. The event, organized by local activist Michele Frazier, was one of many taking place across the country.
“This is no longer a Democrat or Republican issue—this is an American issue,” Frazier said. “We’re demanding that the administration and Elon Musk keep their hands off Social Security, which people have paid into their entire working lives. This isn’t a handout.”
Beyond Social Security, the rally also focused on broader concerns over democracy, immigration policy, and access to education. Speakers included Joyce St. George, Sanam Shafi, a professor at SUNY Delhi, Kent Brown, a Margaretville Central School Board of Education member and a representative from Delaware County Pride.
“We’ve seen attacks on free speech, particularly in higher education,” Frazier said. “Colleges are being pressured to cut diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and funding is being threatened for institutions that allow open discourse. The First Amendment guarantees a marketplace of ideas, and a democracy thrives when those ideas are allowed to compete and grow.”
Concerns over censorship extended to public libraries, where book bans have increasingly become a flashpoint. “Restricting access to books and ideas is a form of punishment,” Frazier said. “A well-educated society is a stronger society, and limiting what people can read weakens us all.”
The Hands Off! Rally in Delhi was part of a growing movement urging policymakers to uphold constitutional rights and safeguard programs that millions rely on.
SUNY Delhi adjunct professor Joyce St. George, who teaches criminal justice, was one of the featured speakers.
“We have got to send a message to Washington that we’re not happy, that we’re frustrated, and that we do have some power,” St. George said.
She also correlated recent reports of negative interactions between police and Black students in Delaware County with the Trump administration’s decision to end Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. “It’s callous, it’s ignorant and it’s brutal,” she said.
“We need to educate not only police - but everybody - on why we have differences, how we have differences, and how those differences get played out, both good and bad in our normal course of living,” St. George said.
Delaware County Democratic Committee Chair Kathleen Hayek criticized Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party, accusing them of consolidating power and undermining democratic institutions. She warned that their actions threaten Americans’ rights, health care, jobs, and data, calling the situation a crisis. Hayek urged immediate action, affirming a collective commitment to defending democracy and protecting all Americans.
“They’re mangling everything they can get their hands on — our health care, our data, our jobs, our services, our rights — and daring the world to stop them. This is a crisis, and the time to act is now,” Hayek said.
Demonstrators across the nation protested what organizers describe as the dismantling of democratic institutions and public resources. The rally called for nonviolent action.
