Springfield rally protests impeachment acquittal of President Donald Trump

SPRINGFIELD — Worried the acquittal of President Donald Trump is an attack on the country’s democracy, Diane Darin said she felt she had to make her concerns known.

So an hour after the U.S. Senate voted largely along party lines Wednesday afternoon not to remove Trump from office on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Darin stood on the steps of City Hall with about 35 other people to protest. She held a large sign reading, “Checks and balances are not just there to look pretty.”

Wednesday’s rally was one of hundreds of “Reject the Cover-Up” events held across the country to protest the Senate’s vote in Trump’s impeachment trial. As part of the movement, about 50 protesters were arrested at the Capitol in Washington as they staged a sit-in.

“I’m protesting the sham of a trial,” Darin said at the Springfield event. “Not to have witnesses or documents, that isn’t a trial.”

Darin, of Springfield, argued that multiple senators agreed Trump’s behavior was wrong and they admitted the investigation revealed Trump had sought foreign interference from Ukraine for the 2020 election. But those senators said they did not feel it was an impeachable offense.

“He is a believer of dictatorship,” Darin said of Trump. “He worships dictators like (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un. He is obsessed with power.”

The protest was organized by Rise Up Western Mass, the local chapter of the national grassroots progressive effort Indivisible. People held signs and chanted, “Hear our voice, hear our votes” and “The GOP has got to go.” One man yelled several times, “Down with the tyrant king.”

Dissatisfaction with Trump and the impeachment outcome should help Democrats running in the 2020 election, said Jackie Neiman, of Longmeadow, an organizer for Rise Up Western Mass.

“Our voices are loud, but our voices will be louder in November,” she said.

But not everyone agreed with the sign-holders. One man walked by taunting the group by yelling “Democrats are losers” and telling the protesters that three years later they still cannot accept that Trump was elected president.

Holding a sign reading “Keep your tiny hands of 2020” Sara Ostrom, of Easthampton, said she wanted to show solidarity with protesters across the country and that she doesn’t agree with the Senate verdict.

“We are angry and we just want to show that,” she said.

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