Crowd shows up for protest to protect federal special counsel investigation

Dozens of Birmingham residents joined one of hundreds of protests around the country on Nov. 8, spurred by the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Chants of “What do we want? Justice!” and “Stand up, fight back!” brought cheers from the crowd gathered across the street from Birmingham’s federal courthouse, as well as honks from passing cars.

MoveOn.org began arranging “rapid response” protests several months ago, with the goal of holding the protests should anything happen that threatens the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller into President Donald Trump. Carole Griffin with Birmingham Indivisible, which organized this local protest, said Sessions’ resignation prompted the last-minute protests because the person Trump chooses to replace him will have oversight of Mueller’s investigation.

“We believe this really crosses a line as far as the independence of the Department of Justice,” said Shea Rives from Birmingham Indivisible.

The protest included brief speeches from Birmingham Indivisible organizers, a representative from the American Civil Liberties Union and attorney and former state attorney general candidate Chris Christie. Griffin read statements from U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell and U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance and noted that the offices of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and Mayor Randall Woodfin had reached out to show their support.

“It’s a national mobilization,” Griffin said.

Griffin said the goal of the protest was to get participants to reach out to their congressional representatives, and the goal nationwide is to push Congress to protect the special counsel investigation until it concludes

Protesters carried signs that were hand-written on cardboard, printed on poster board and spray painted on large fabric banners. Griffin said the goal of the protest is not partisanship, but rather to protect the U.S. Justice Department from what protesters see as undue influence from the president while he is under investigation.

“This is a red line that’s been crossed,” Griffin said.

Judy Hand-Truitt said she joined the protest Thursday night because she also sees Sessions’ resignation, which his resignation letter states was done at the request of the president, as a line that should not have been crossed.

I just want our nation to live up to the principles it says it was founded on,” Hand-Truitt said. “We’ve elevated exclusion into the White House.”

Fellow protest attendee Valerie Suggs said she was concerned the investigation would not be permitted to finish. She said she was pleased with the turnout of 50 or more people, especially right after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“Let’s do something about this. It’s time,” Griffin said to close the protest.

More information about the purpose of the rapid response protests is available at moveon.org.