The “Impeach Trump” protest was part of a national initiative, with rallies happening in nearly 50 cities across the US.
For Ahmed Ghanim, spending his Sunday in a poorly shaded median strip in downtown Detroit on a sweltering afternoon was not a choice. It was a responsibility, and more specifically a civic duty.
“I am so grateful to this country. This country has given me what I haven’t found in any other land, ” said Ghanim, who immigrated to the United States from Egypt in 2001. “It’s given me freedom — the right to talk, the right to vote, and it’s given me the right to protest.”
The 40-year old, who joined the Metro-Detroit Political Action Network (MDPAN) following the election of Donald Trump, was one of about 50 metro Detroiters who showed up at Hart Plaza Sunday afternoon to protest the 45th president — and more specifically call on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings.
“Donald Trump is not patriotic, he’s separating this country, ” said MDPAN leader Adriene Avripas, of Clinton Townshp, who helped put together the event in conjunction with a national “Impeach Trump” initiative, that led to sister protests in 46 cities including Ann Arbor, where an estimated 100 to 150 people, according to MLive.
“We’re aiming to bring awareness and give people hope that there are other people out there that are angry, and that we’re not going to give up hope, and that we’re going to fight this fascist regime, ” Avripas said.
The San Francisco-based organization that spearheaded the national “Impeachment March, ” says the president “has committed constitutional breaches, consistently lied, cheated, and enforces laws that primarily benefit him and his billionaire friends at the expense of the country.” On its website, it lists reasons for impeachment, which include violations of the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses, obstruction of justice.
Trump for his part has denied accusations that he obstructed the current FBI investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election.
While Avripas brought up Russian-ties, sexism, and racism as reasons for protesting Trump’s presidency, those in attendance all came with their own personal grievances.
Alex Pak, an engineer based in Plymouth, said he came out because he wanted to be on the good side of history.
The 34-year old said he had never considered coming to a protest prior to Trump’s election, but he wanted to show support for what he sees as the right side of history.
“This is not about Democrats versus Republicans, this is not about liberals versus conservatives, this is about good versus evil, ” Pak said.
Others, like Jeff Knight of Canton, were frustrated with the lack of seriousness and dignity Trump was bringing to the White House. He pointed to a tweet the president sent Sunday morning, which showed a cartoonishly edited video of him pummeling a man with the CNN logo on his face — an apparent metaphor for his war with the media.
“It doesn’t seem professional, ” said Knight.
While the event’s stated goal was impeachment, many in attendance said their goals were bigger than just impeachment or the president. This was about shifting the national dialog and condemning bigotry, misogyny, and racism, they said.
Ahmed Rezk — who, like Ghanim, emigrated from Egypt in 2001 — said he was in attendance because of the rhetoric that had been normalized since Trump began campaigning for the presidency.
A nurse at Detroit Medical Center and a Muslim, the 40-year-old Rezk said he has colleagues ask him why his religion tells him to kill non-Muslims.
“Years ago, nobody would dare ask me such a question, ” he said.
He said when he came to the U. S. after the Sept. 11 attacks, he heard from some people that he should go back to his country, but he felt such hateful rhetoric had subsided until recently.
“It’s changing, we don’t feel safe anymore, we don’t feel free anymore.”
Following a number of speeches in Hart Plaza, the group, escorted by Detroit police, walked north on Woodward and around Campus Martius, passing along the way buildings like the headquarters for Quicken Loans, owned by local billionaire Dan Gilbert, which donated $750,000 to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Some passing motorists honked in support, while some vocalized disdain. “Vote for Trump!” two different car passengers shouted to the group.
Gail and Krissy Smith, of Holly, were downtown with their family for a Tiger’s game when they spotted the crowd. Trump supporters, the duo, watched on amused, with Gail Smith asking one of his kids to snap a photo of him with a man wearing a paper-mache Trump mask.
“A lot of this has to do with what the media portrays, ” said Krissy Smith, who explained that many of the people protesting just didn’t know the facts.
For Gail Smith, the Trump presidency is just politics as usual.
“To each his own, ” the 44-year old said of the protesters noting that he didn’t think the protesting would do much. “They all lie right? Trump just does it more outwardly.”
For Ghanim, who spent 25 years living under a dictatorship in Egypt, this sentiment was exactly why he felt the need to protest.
“The worst thing that’s happening right now is not Donald Trump. You might impeach or he may stay for years, that’s not the problem, ” said Ghanim. “The most important thing and most dangerous thing to democracy here is normalizing what’s wrong. That’s how we’re raised under a dictatorship, to normalize what’s wrong, “
He said in Egypt, corrupt behavior — seeing a president as a thug — was normalized for generations to the point where it just became normal for everyone.
