Protesters plan to take to the Southern Boulevard Bridge on July 17, to voice their opposition to President Donald Trump’s presidency and what they decry as authoritarian policies.
Organized by United+ and Democratic Progressive Caucus Inc., attendees will meet at the south corner of Southern Boulevard and South Flagler Drive at 7:30 a.m. before walking across the drawbridge to the eastern edge of Bingham Island for a candlelight vigil, said Mark Offerman of Wellington, a longtime local activist who is organizing the demonstration. It is expected to last until 10 p.m.
According to a press release, the protest will be centered on a list of demands, including calls to restore due process to the nation’s immigration system; invoke of the 25th amendment and commence impeachment proceedings; end what they call Trump’s “illegal” executive orders, pardons and government contracts; and reverse the Trump Administration’s cuts to federal agencies such as those that hit the Department of Education.
“We sent out a large call to the public and to this administration that we’re not going to stand for this anymore,” Offerman said. “This isn’t right; our civil liberties are being destroyed.”
During the protest, organizers will bring out a “Trump Baby” balloon, a large caricature inflatable reminiscent to one that first appeared during a protest in the U.K., according to the news release.
Protesters at the Declaration Juneteenth Solidarity event in West Palm Beach on Saturday, June 20, 2020, launched a “Baby Trump” balloon near the president’s Mar-A-Lago estate just before sunset. The balloon will make an appearance during the July 17th protest near Mar-a-Lago.
The protest will be one among more than 50 protests occurring in Florida as part of a nationwide “Good Trouble Lives On” day of action. The name of these protests stem from a phrase used by the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis in 2019, when he spoke at the Library of Congress opening exhibition of “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words.”
Lewis passed away July 17, 2020.
In Palm Beach, the day of action also aims to reschedule the planned July 4 protest planned that was cancelled at the last minute by organizers, who said West Palm Beach did not provide a permit for the event.
West Palm Beach Police officials cited several reasons, including a lack of available resources, in their email to organizers about the permit denial.
Offerman told the Daily News that he had sent in a new permit request for the July 17 demonstration just moments after organizers were notified about the denial. But as of July 15, West Palm Beach had not approved or denied the application.
For more information, visit www.mobilize.us/john-lewis-actions/event/806040/
Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Local organizers plan anti-Trump protest near Mar-a-Lago for July 17