A crowd gathered outside of Wilmington’s Social Security office on Thursday, April 24, with one clear message — “Hands Off of Social Security.”
“We got a call … to action from Social Security Works, which is a national organization,” Della Hann, leader with Brunswick Indivisible Stepping Forward for Action, said standing outside of the Social Security Office on S. 16th Street. “They asked that we show our support … and that’s why we’re here, showing our support not only for Social Security as the entity but also for the workers. … We’re fully behind them and we want them to keep their jobs.”
Thursday’s demonstration comes in the wake of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump administration initiative headed by billionaire Elon Musk, terminating several leases for Social Security offices nationwide, amongst other recent changes.
In her hands, Hann held a letter shared by Social Security Works signed by 110 U.S. congressional representatives, urging that all Social Security field offices remain open and that the program continue. Hann said she attempted to deliver the letter to the local field office, but they didn’t have the appropriate staff to accept it, though it has already been delivered to the national office.
“The economics of our entire region really would be in serious jeopardy if (Social Security) was destroyed in any kind of way or lessened,” Hann said. “Retirement now is a huge part of this area of North Carolina in terms of its livelihood. Many of us, including myself, have come here to retire because it’s such a gorgeous area. We would have to rethink those strategies if we can’t have in our arsenal a piece of Social Security that we’ve paid for.”
Thursday’s protest is one of several associated with the “Hands Off” movement in the Port City. Here’s more on other recent related demonstrations in the Wilmington area.
‘Community town hall’ | Saturday, April 19
On Saturday, April 19, a crowd gathered in Wilmington’s Innes Park outside of City Hall, critiquing the current presidential administration and Elon Musk.
The event was a public demonstration aimed at protesting what organizers called “arbitrary and capricious political, personal, and discriminatory cuts being made in order to give millionaires and billionaires another tax break off the backs of working Americans.”
Lynn Shoemaker, vice president with the North Carolina American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, opened the community town hall, which then featured three-minute vignettes from numerous community members.
Protestors held signs with messages including “Hands Off Everything,” “The U.S. Rule of Law is Dead,” and “Stop the Billionaire Takeover,” reflecting a wide range of concerns.
Prior coverage: Hundreds attend anti-Trump ‘Hands Off’ protests in downtown Wilmington, Brunswick County
‘Hands Off’ in Wilmington and Bolivia | Saturday, April 5
Two weeks prior to the community town hall in Innes Park, hundreds protested across New Hanover and Brunswick counties on April 5.
Organizers estimated roughly 1,100 attended the rally in Wilmington, which took place just blocks away from the N.C. Azalea Festival downtown.
Organizer Sam Pierce previously told the StarNews the event was just the beginning of what he hoped would become a larger gesture on par with the Civil Rights and labor movements.
Spotted in the crowd was Randy Blythe, vocalist of the Grammy-nominated metal band Lamb of God.
“I believe that the U.S. government is slowly but methodically being taken over by technological oligarchs who are attempting to do their best to dismantle the mechanisms of democracy to remain in power perpetually if at all possible,” Blythe said.
Outside of the Brunswick County Courthouse in Bolivia, more than 800 people attended another Hands Off protest on the same day.
Organizer Shelley Allen previously told the StarNews that a variety of issues motivated the crowd to attend, including cuts made to the federal workforce and healthcare programs.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Hands Off protest held at Wilmington, NC, Social Security office
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