Rally and vigil for democracy held on State Street in Santa Barbara
Indivisible and other progressive groups used social media to call for a rally and vigil after President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. Some activists called the statements President Trump made in Helsinki and his remarks afterwards “the last straw.”
They took their protest message to the streets. Protesters stood on all four corners of State and Anapamu Streets in Santa Barbara on Wednesday evening.
Denis Dannemiller said she was upset by the administration. Her sign had the T in Trump replaced by a hammer and sickle communist symbol. “They are hijacking our democracy, ” said Dannemiller.
Some people brought signs, others brought art supplies and poster boards and urged people to make their own signs on a desk set up by the art museum.
UCSB student Jean Michel Ricard was working on a sign when he explained why he decided to join the demonstration.
“Just today, we had the rollback of coal ash regulations for the specific purpose of saving industry money, so that’s really what got me riled up, but of course, you’d be hard-pressed to find something that isn’t completely preposterous from the administration, ” said Ricard.
Mary Frink said she is a supporter of a group called Postcards to Voters and urged people to find out more information about it by visiting, https://postcardtovoters.org
“I want people to stay engaged, I want people to be informed, I want people to register others to vote, I want people to vote, I want them to take their neighbor to the polls,’ said Frink.
People joining this protest and others are calling on Congress to let the Mueller investigation into election interference run its course before a new Supreme Court Justice is confirmed.
