Protesters of all ages showed up at the “Nobody is above the law: Protect Mueller” rally in front of Overlook Memorial Park last week. Organizers estimate a crowd of approximately 100 people.
Protesters of all ages showed up at the “Nobody is above the law: Protect Mueller” rally in front of Overlook Memorial Park last week. Organizers estimate a crowd of approximately 100 people.
Crowds organized in Hood River, The Dalles and around the country Thursday evening to protest Matthew Whitaker’s appointment as acting Attorney General, a move that put him in charge of overseeing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential foreign meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
The public outcry was less about former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ forced resignation than it was about Whitaker — who has repeatedly criticized the investigation — being chosen as Sessions’ replacement.
According to the national organizer, a progressive group called MoveOn.org, hundreds of “Nobody is above the law: Protect Mueller” protests were held throughout the country.
“We’ve known that Trump would act to shut down the Mueller investigation as he is very concerned about what it will reveal,” said Bonnie New, one of the local organizers with Indivisible Columbia Gorge (ICG), in a welcome address to the crowd gathered at Hood River’s Overlook Memorial Park on Thursday.
“Trump has now crossed a line toward obstruction of justice by replacing Sessions with a loyalist who wants to shut down the investigation,” she continued. “The reason for this coordinated response here and around the country is two-fold: First, that outside interference and possible internal collusion represents an enormous security risk to the country; and second, that Trump’s actions threaten justice and the rule of law upon which our democracy is built.”
According to ICG, more than 100 protesters attended from Hood River, Trout Lake, Mosier and Parkdale.
The regional group is part of the larger Indivisible National network, a grassroots movement whose goal is to resist the Trump administration’s agenda and support progressive leaders, said a statement on Indivisible’s website. It is one of three Indivisible groups in the Gorge, alongside Columbia Gorge Women’s Action network in White Salmon and Protect Oregon’s Progress in The Dalles.
MoveOn and Indivisible National are part of what they call “the Mueller investigation rapid response network,” which calls protesters into action nationwide if Trump takes action to interfere with the investigation.
If such an event occurs before noon, the network states, rallies are called to be held at 5 p.m. the same day; if it occurs after noon, rallies are to be held at noon the next day.
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