Almost 500 people gathered Saturday at a town hall organized by the Leon Democratic Party. Those in attendance were frustrated and angry: at Donald Trump, at Elon Musk, and at their own political party.
As visitors entered the American Legion Hall at Lake Ella, they were asked to use their phones to share what concerns brought them there. The three most common answers were “Trump”, “Democracy” and “Nazis”.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried kicked off the event by addressing the crowd's sense of urgency.
“What is happening in Washington D.C. is also an attack on all of us. When you attack one of us, you attack all of us,” she said. “The issues that are impacting our nation today are not partisan. We've got to come together and fight for our country’s Democrats, Republicans and Independents.”
The event also featured a panel discussion that included Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor, Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, former Congressman Allen Boyd, and policy advocate Karen Woodall.
Matlow took direct shots at Congressman Neal Dunn for declining to attend.
“Let me tell you something about Congressman Dunn. I've worked at City Hall for six years. The Congressman has an office at city hall in Tallahassee. I have never seen him there in my entire time. We know he doesn't represent us,” he said.
While most attendees directed their anger at the Trump administration, several people criticized Democrats saying they aren’t doing enough to counter Republicans.
Local party member Nic Zateslo responded to those interjections by calling on participants to take their energy beyond attending a town hall.
“We're going to start canvassing, we're gonna start texting, we're gonna start calling our neighbors, we're gonna start having house parties. We're gonna start doing all the things to do to convince the elect, the voters, that this is wrong. And guess what? I don't think it's gonna be that hard,” he said.
Democratic party operatives collected contact information for those in attendance. Leon Party Chair Ryan Ray told WFSU many of those that attended have never volunteered with the party before. He hopes to mobilize them for future political action.
“We're building the roadmap together. Nobody knows exactly where this is going, and nobody has all the answers, but we do know, and we all acknowledge together that we're in a new moment in terms of our politics, and so we're laying down the connections of community that are going to help us get there,” he said.
The same people who organized the rally are planning on holding another one outside Dunn’s office at Tallahassee City Hall Thursday.