Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Feb. 17, 2025 – Dozens of protestors staked out on the corner of Highland Drive and Caraway Road on Monday to protest President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders, Elon Musk’s involvement in the government and more.

Hosted by the Democratic Party of Craighead County (DPCC), many protestors said they were unhappy with Trump’s recent executive orders, which aim to lay off hundreds of federal employees, begin mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, implement new tariffs and more.

“We have a president that’s acting like a king rather than an actual president,” said David McAvoy, chair of the DPCC. “We have a lot of folks here in Craighead County … who are feeling horrified by some of the things they’re seeing being done by the executive branch of this country. Even folks who voted for him before are now alarmed by what they’re seeing.”

McAvoy added the protest itself “landed in [DPCC’s] lap,” since several similar protests were going on nationwide. He said the citizens of Craighead County didn’t want to be “left out” of the nationwide protests.

The nationwide protests, and the Craighead County one, are part of the 50501 Movement, a movement that gained significant momentum on social media in late January. The organization’s mission statement is “We are not just numbers or consumers. We are the People. We reject fascism. We reject the oligarchy.” The protests have different names across the county, such as “No Kings on Presidents’ Day,” “Not my President’s Day,” and more.

Bonnie Goad, a protestor, said she felt the way the country was implementing new change was wrong.

“There’s a right way and a wrong way to do it and our Washington people who are supposed to be representing us are going about this the wrong way,” Goad said. “[Change should happen] very slowly. You can’t just jump in and lay off a whole Pentagon of people or federal government. This is crazy.”

Shamal Carter, president of the Craighead County NAACP, said he attended to show unity.

“I’m standing here with people that may not look like me, but may still have the same beliefs, some that may not have the same beliefs, but believe our county is at risk of being turned into something pre-Jim Crow,” Carter said. “We’re standing here today because we will not go back. We will stand and we will not bow.”

Attendees also protested Musk’s involvement in the government. Musk is not an elected official but has been appointed by Trump as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Trump renamed an existing government agency, the U.S. Digital Service, as the U.S. DOGE Service, making it an official government entity with the goal of “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” Per the executive order, the agency is to complete its work by July 4, 2026.

Rebecca Roberts, a protestor and president of the Northeast Arkansas Young Democrats, said Musk’s involvement in the government was “disturbing.”

“Just what I’ve been seeing on the news of, essentially a man that is unelected, making so many decisions for American people; even Trump, I don’t like the decisions he’s making, but it’s especially disturbing seeing Musk, who we didn’t vote for at all, essentially running the government right now,” Roberts said.

McAvoy said it was unclear if there would be similar protests in the future.

“There is real backlash to what is going on. Who knows what else we’re going to see as things develop,” McAvoy said. “We have a president that needs to remember that he’s not a king, he is a president; and we have elected officials that need to remember this is a democracy, and we need to keep it that way.”