Around 75 people gathered in front of Langley City Hall on Monday as part of nationwide protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Participants recalled seeing the call to action on social media and heeded it on Presidents Day. Similar demonstrations were held in several other cities across the country, including Everett and Seattle. According to SOS Whidbey, the movement originated with 50501, a collective of grassroots organizers against executive overreach.

On South Whidbey, the closest government building is the city hall in Langley. Around noon, people showed up with their homemade signs; most stuck around for about an hour.

Langley residents Susan Prescott and Michael Seraphinoff displayed signs that addressed the recent mass firings of public servants, ending with “Arrest Musk” and “Impeach Trump Now.”

“Mr. Trump is not in his right mind, and Mr. Musk is out of control,” Prescott said.

Seraphinoff said the “70-plus crowd” was much better represented than any other age group at the informal gathering. Someone brought a banjo, and people began singing the Woody Guthrie song “This Land is Your Land.” At one point, there were chants of “Muskrat.”

“I think this is just the opening round,” Seraphinoff said. “This is getting so serious.”

More of his thoughts can be found in the monthly column “From Point No Point to Deception Pass” on page 4.

Clinton resident Mike Clyburn, who has detailed knowledge of civil service protection laws, was also disturbed by the way federal employees have been treated lately.

“It was great to see everybody turn out and I think we’re going to need a lot more peaceful protests to stop what’s going on in Washington, and we need Congress and the courts to stand up as well and do their parts,” he said.

(Photo by Scott Chaplin) At least 75 people showed up at Langley City Hall on Presidents Day.