Seattle to host rally against Trump national emergency Monday night
Feb 18, 2019, 11:23 AM | Updated: 7:27 pm
(Pramila Jayapal)
(Pramila Jayapal)
Many workers have President’s Day off, but protesters in Seattle took that time to march against our current president’s most recent controversy.
RELATED: Senate OKs border deal, Trump will sign, declare emergency
RELATED: State AG threatens legal action over emergency declaration
Monday at 5:30 p.m., protesters gathered in Seattle’s Volunteer Park for a rally against the immigration-related national emergency President Trump declared last Friday. The Facebook event initially had more than 300 people interested in attending.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Adam Smith were both among speakers, as well as U.S Army combat veteran Chris Franco, and various immigrant rights advocates.
The rally was being organized by MoveOn, Washington Immigration Solidarity Network, Indivisible WA-8, Seattle NOH8, and Seattle Indivisible.
“We stand by the rule of law and will not allow our constitutional democracy to be eroded so that the president can deliver on a campaign promise that is anathema to the true values of this country,” Seattle NOH8 Founder Maggie Cuevas said in a recent news release.
Seattle’s rally was one in a series of nationwide protests taking place on President’s Day. In total, there were 148 separate events being organized Monday by MoveOn, set to be held across Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and others.
Olympia hosted a rally of its own at noon Monday at the city’s Insurance Commissioner’s Building, where Congressman Denny Heck and Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson both attended. Ferguson threatened legal action over Trump’s emergency declaration Friday.
Last November, hundreds gathered in Seattle for a rally protesting the resignation of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and the appointment of then-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.
That rally included speeches from Gov. Jay Inslee, as well as Rep. Jayapal, and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.
