On December 18, a crowd of activists and progressive organizations gathered outside the Capitol to show Congress that Americans are demanding that Donald Trump be impeached and removed from office for his abuse of power. Bearing signs that read “Impeach Now!” “Impeach and Remove,” and “No One Is Above The Law,” the crowd gathered to listen to speakers from PFAW, MoveOn, Common Cause, NAACP, Public Citizen, VoteVets, Center for American Progress, Constitutional Accountability Center and other organizations.
The message was clear: Trump violated the trust of the American people, abused his power as President and failed to protect our democracy, and must be impeached.
Speakers from a large coalition took to the stage to call on Republican members of Congress to uphold the Constitution and put country over party instead of standing behind a president who betrayed the American people. Others stressed that calling for impeachment isn’t an act of partisanship, but of patriotism, and that any Republicans in Congress who stand up to Trump, regardless of the political consequences, should be celebrated.
Also worth celebrating are the hundreds of thousands of Americans who showed up to over 600 events across the country on December 17, despite the snow, the cold and the rain. Speakers were quick to praise the crowd in D.C. and the people across America who came together to make their voices heard. The fight for justice and against corruption, division, and hate requires the participation of all, and as Jamal Watkins (NAACP) reminded the crowd, “In November there is an election, everyone. We know that if you go and you turn out and you vote your values, that this country can turn a corner. Because at the end of the day, when we vote we win, when we fight we win, and as you all have said, nobody is above the law.”
PFAW Senior Director of Outreach and Public Policy Diallo Brooks brought the rally to a resounding close, proudly bringing with him to the stage his 18-year-old son. He shared that his son joined him at the rally “because he knew it was important.” He continued:
“It’s about his future… It’s about the children that are standing back over there, their future. We fight for them. This is about the people; the people have stood up. The people believe in democracy and will do whatever it takes to make sure that we stand for the principles of democracy. We will not lay down. We will not go hide in a corner. We don’t care how hallowed these buildings are, they belong to us. This country belongs to the people.”
Brooks continued that the people of this country will not back down and that we will continue to fight every day for a better country and a country that works for future generations. He finished with an uplifting statement: “You all are exercising your voices to create change, to fight for a better country, to move us to the future in way that we all—no matter where we come from or what we look like—can be proud of our country and be together, united, for the best of us.”