Elle Love
ONLINE REPORTER
Chilly, winter weather did not stop a group of Nebraskans from coming together on Dec. 17 at Turner Park to demand the removal of President Trump.
The impeachment rally was held the evening before the official impeachment hearing at the House of Representatives. The House passed both articles of impeachment charging President Trump with abusing his office and obstructing Congress.
This pro-impeachment rally was held across the nation, including Omaha. The rally called, “No One is Above the Law” was hosted by Indivisible Nebraska and featured guest speakers like political activist and UNO Black Studies Professor, Preston Love Jr.
Participants, bundled in their winter gear, held up signs reading, “Impeach Trump Now,” “Impeach and Remove” and “No one is above the law.”
Community activist, Dulce Sherman, gave a speech critiquing many issues with the current presidential administration.
“Being the first generation born immigrant of immigrant parents, immigrant families are being separated, living in horrible conditions,” Sherman said. “Families and children are living in cages and detention centers. Immigrant children are dying alone with no medical care and no flu vaccinations provided.”
Sherman encouraged Nebraskans to “call, write, email” to representatives to remove Trump out of office.
“Aren’t we exhausted that no one is speaking for us anymore,” Sherman said in her speech. “We have to speak up for the powerless and the voiceless.”
The crowd also listened to Preston Love Jr’s speech, Don’t Waste My Time, where he told the crowd that the impeachment vote is “one little passive step” towards the action to remove President Trump.
Love said impeachment isn’t a solution to the Trump administration.
“It is not that. It is not a solution to the scores of important issues that are before this nation, domestically and internationally,” Love said. “It is not a removal of the president, but it should be.”
Love said the rally is to help motivate everyone to “start a real ‘impeachment’ by voting him [President Trump] out.”
The impeachment means more than just the presidency because of the issues community and policy wise caused by political parties including immigration, health care, the environment and more, said Love.
“When you impeach the president, you don’t change those things,” Love said. “What you do is that you raise the awareness of people to start voting.”
Air Force Veteran Kim Moss-Allen said she attended the event to come out and show members of Congress that “we mean business.”
“We want them to do their job,” Moss-Allen said, “Their job is not just to sit around and follow a political party or a person. Their job is to be a co-equal branch of government”
Moss-Allen reflected on how Republicans came in support of Nixon during his impeachment trial about the Watergate scandal but over time, made a tough decision to break off their support by voting to impeach him. The decision cost them their seats in the upcoming 1974 election.
Moss-Allen recalled a time where the President announced that Article II of the Constitution gives him the right to do “whatever I want as President.”
“Many, many signs out here tonight said ‘No one is above the law’ and I think when you listen to the President on what he says and watch what he does, he believes he is above the law,” Moss-Allen said. “He believes that it doesn’t apply to him.”
Moss-Allen said one of the reasons she attended the rally reminded her of when she was stationed in the Air Force during the period of the Cold War, defending the Fulda Gap.
“We saw all of the American intelligence organizations tell the President and Congress that the Russians interfered with our election in 2016 and it’s continuing,” Moss-Allen said. “The president ignored that when he was confronted. He said, ‘I believe Putin.’”
Another rally participant, Shawn Lowry said the impeachment is also more than just removing the president from office.
“It’s all about protecting our Constitution and the rights that are in the Constitution for checks and balances between the three branches,” Lowry said. “If one branch is accommodating to the other branch, then that’s exactly the type of government that the founding fathers had warned us against.”
On Dec. 18, the day after the rally, the House of Representatives passed both articles of impeachment. Nebraska Representatives Don Bacon, Jeff Fortenberry and Adrian Smith voted nay on each article. However, for the President to be removed from the White House at least 67 members of the Senate would have to vote to convict him on at least one of the impeachment articles.
