Protestors, demanding he resign for his support of Donald Trump, display signs in front of Rep. Morgan Griffith’s Salem office on Main Street.
Shawn Nowlin
shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
With each passing day since the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, Salem native John Richards finds himself asking the same question: Will the Senate agree with the House that Trump incited an insurrection and should be impeached?
A majority of Americans, 56 percent according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, say that Trump should be removed from office and barred from ever running again.
Americans dodged a bullet by electing Biden over Trump, said Salem resident David Harris who added, I’ve always felt that Trump is temperamentally unfit for political office
Last Saturday, Harris joined about a dozen protestors that gathered outside of Congressman Morgan Griffith’s Salem office to express their frustration. The purpose of the gathering, noted Harris, was to hold our representative accountable for his willingness to put his own agenda over what’s best for the country.
“Honk Against Fascism” and “Resign Morgan since you don’t believe in democracy” were just some of the signs that participants brought to the protest. A huge banner tied to trees called the congressman “complicit in a fascist insurrection.” Several drivers, seemingly approving of the protestors, honked their horns as they drove by.
“Our issue with Congressman Griffith is that he continues to support Trump. I feel incredibly disgusted with Ben Cline and Morgan because I see their opposition to the election results as an assault on objective reality and our constitutional democracy,” Harris said.
He added, “Trump has strong autocratic tendencies, which are incompatible with democracy. If Trump won a second term, it would have emboldened him toward more extreme authoritarian behavior. It concerns me how close our nation came to fascism. Trump is a lesson in all the things that a leader should not be. He is also a reminder that truth and people who uncover and disseminate facts are essential.”
Protest organizer Dave Tate of the group Progressive Anti-Racist Action also has strong feelings about the Capitol Hill riots that Trump incited.
“This violence, and those documented to have been a part of it, will lead to the dismantling of untold numbers of extremist cells across the country,” Tate said. “It will lead to some long prison terms for some very dangerous people and it will cost many of the unhinged to lose their gun rights.”
Tate has a message for his Republican friends who he feels have been duped: only you can clean up your house.
“The wolves used patriotism and religion as a tool against your values. They then used the cover of your flock to attack the shepherd in his home. This is the fact and until it can be recognized and accepted, wheels are just spinning in an alternate reality,” he said.
