Where some see a vacant parking lot and a crumbling retail relic, others saw the perfect venue for a full-throated primal scream.
On Saturday, people of all ages gathered in the lot of the old Sears building — just down the hill from the State Capitol — for what organizers dubbed “Rage Against the Regime,” a self-described outlet for pent-up political frustration.
Hosted by MN50501, a progressive grassroots group that describes itself as “working-class, motivated, and passionate,” the event blended protest with performance art — featuring puppet shows and a watermelon-smashing pit.
“It was everything I could have ever dreamed and hoped for,” said one participant in a video posted by Frontlines — a project of Turning Point USA.
When asked what they smashed, the answer was simple: “The patriarchy.”
A cathartic carnival of discontent
At the event, rotting fruit, busted electronics, and old TVs met their end beneath the fury of baseball bats and sledgehammers inside the “rage out loud” tent.
One attendee, after obliterating a printer, screamed “F—k Trump!”
“I didn’t realize how much was literally pent up inside my body, until I let it out,” said another participant. “I started kind of shaking.”
One participant — who self-identified as autistic and bisexual — issued a dire warning about RFK Jr.’s alleged plan to turn America into a gluten-free gulag.
“I don’t want to be shipped off to a health farm by RFK that he plans to put us all on,” the participant said. “It’s a health farm version of the concentration camps and Alligator Alcatraz, and nobody deserves to be in concentration camps — that’s Nazi shit.”
For some, their stress wasn’t financial — it was psychological.
“I can’t say I’ve lost a lot because of [the Trump administration] other than sleep,” a participant said. “It’s just hurting the quality of my life and my enjoyment of my retirement.”
A new kind of community organizing
Organizers said all food used for smashing was deemed unfit for human consumption and all electronics would be disposed of properly.
Still, the event served up plenty of fodder for conservative commentators to dine on.
“Liberals in Minnesota are currently smashing watermelons and TVs to help expel their ‘rage’ against the Trump admin,” reported Turning Point’s Savanah Hernandez. “After smashing a watermelon, one attendee screamed ‘REVOLUTION’ stating that the experience was ‘cathartic’ and left her shaking.”
The Turning Point USA videos captured attendees hurling fruit at images of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
🚨NEW: Welcome to Minnesota, where grown adults spent their Saturday raging against “the machine.”
They screamed, they cried, they said RFK Jr. is going to put them into concentration camps?
This is “Rage Against the Regime” — the latest protest from the 50501 Movement.… pic.twitter.com/bTnQPBySCW
— FRONTLINES (@FrontlinesTPUSA) August 3, 2025
The event also served as an opportunity to pontificate on the 2028 presidential election.
When asked who they’d like to see run for president in 2028, one attendee offered: “We need a progressive and we need a woman … someone who does not identify as a cis white male,” the person said. “Or at least somebody with a uterus.”
The person added: “Either Jasmine Crockett or AOC. It would be so cool if either one ran for president… please God, please.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
