Text & Photos by Scott D. Johnston
A group of local citizens demonstrated in the median on Pt. Brown Avenue Thursday night to protest President Donald Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his acting replacement.
The gathering was part of hundreds of protests across the country Thursday evening, with 35-40 folks in downtown Ocean Shores joining the thousands demanding President Trump do nothing to hinder the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in connection with the 2016 presidential election.
The protests, operating under the theme “Nobody is Above the Law” and created overnight by activist group MoveOn.org, called for people to gather at 5 p.m. local time Thursday in an effort to protect the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The action was spurred by Trump’s move on Wednesday to replace Sessions with his chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, as acting Attorney General. Sessions had recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, while Whitaker has called for it to be scaled down.
The local protest was organized by Indivisible Ocean Shores, a group created about 15 months ago, and was among the hundreds listed online by MoveOn.
As the sun went down, a group met in the Ocean Shores Convention Center parking lot. Just after 5 p.m., they made the short walk to the median on Pt. Brown that lies just north of the roundabout.
Marcella Dykes, one of eight local Indivisible founders, explained the group’s reasons for the demonstration:
“We are concerned about Mueller being taken out of commission and not being able to follow through,” she said. Co-founder Jeni Cate added, “We are terribly concerned about our democracy.” Dykes concluded, “What we want is for that investigation to not be interfered with, and we feel that’s Trump’s agenda.”
Another co-founder and local activist, Alex Suarez, said she joined the protest on the chilly evening because she believes that “if the President is above the law, then there is no law – we will break into chaos. We must hold him responsible.
“There are two things we can do: Show our support for justice, freedom and democracy in every way we can. And we can be kind to ourselves and to each other.”
Dykes noted the Indivisible group here has been involved in weekly Get Out the Vote demonstrations this fall, and has a “coffee chat” at 10 a.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month at Ocean Beach Roasters at 841 Pt. Brown Ave. NW. About 70 percent of those who participated Thursday were not previously involved with the group, organizers said.
More information about Indivisible Ocean Shores is available online at www.indivisibleoceanshores.website.
