Demonstrators rally for democracy around Mid-Missouri
Keriana Gamboa
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Several rallies happened across Mid-Missouri and the nation on Thursday to honor the legacy of late U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), regarded as a champion of the Civil Rights Movement.
We Stand United Missouri held its “Rally to defend the Constitution” at the Capitol in Jefferson City. Organizers say an estimated 300 people attended.
The rally in the Rotunda featured remarks from the NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. and several other groups.
“Today is we memorialize the legacy of John Lewis. I think that it’s more important than ever that we acknowledge not only our rights and responsibilities as citizens, but put those into motion,” Chapel said. “We did that today. We brought people from around the state here to Jefferson City.”
Chapel told ABC 17 News the group hopes to deliver a message urging Missouri state leaders to listen to the voices of the people.
“We’re definitely talking to those authority figures here in the Capitol, whether it’s the governor, the senators or the state representatives,” Chapel said. “We think that every elected official, both at the state level and on the federal level, need to understand that we, the people, drive this democracy. This is not top down. It’s bottom up. And I have to tell you, we are here at the bottom yelling at the top.”
Attendee Alison Kaiser called for justice amid a tense and divisive political climate.
“Both parties have done this when we have passed something on the ballot by initiative petition and the politicians reverse that. We cannot sit still for that,” Kaiser said.
The Mid-Missouri Solidarity Network said in a news release that organizers are gathering in the spirit of Lewis, five years after he died. He was known for “making good trouble” in the fight for democracy.
The Mid-Missouri Solidarity Network held a “Rally of Grievances and Preferred Visions” outside the offices of Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt at 1:15 p.m. Another rally followed outside Rep. Mark Alford’s office in Columbia.
In Boonville, demonstrators with Good Trouble Mid MO gathered in front of the Cooper County Courthouse at 6 p.m. The organization When She Votes held a candlelight vigil in front of the Boone County Courthouse that was attended by dozens of people.
ABC 17 News contacted Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office on Thursday.