Report from Washington, DC, Anti-NRA March

July 16, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

From a reader:

July 15, in the morning, more than 200 people came to a rally in front of the Department of Justice—this was a continuation of the protest called by organizers of the Women’s March, Women’s March from #NRA2DOJ , in response to the vicious videos from the NRA (see statement from Refuse Fascism, “We Must Support Those Under Attack”) which began on the day before at the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in suburban Virginia. People marched 17 miles from there to the Department of Justice, where a rally was held the next morning. There were very strong demands in relation to the fascist attack videos that the NRA had recently put out, and there were gun control advocates and people who had family members die from shootings. Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Tamika Mallory from the Women’s March were among those who spoke. There were some NRA and Trump supporters, perhaps 10 on other side of street, but overall there was not the menacing atmosphere there had been at the NRA headquarters the day before.

Several of us from Refuse Fascism came there in support and in participation of this two-day march and rally. At the end of Saturday’s rally, the main moderator got on the stage and said she wanted to give a shout out to Refuse Fascism and held up the flyer for July 15 and encouraged people to connect with Refuse Fascism people in the crowd.

After the rally officially was over, one of the Refuse Fascism activists did a mic check about the importance of driving out the Trump/Pence regime and its direct connection to the vital issues of the rally. A crowd of people gathered around and expressed strong agreement. Then, with the chant “No Trump, No NRA, No Fascist USA” being taken up by many in the crowd, 75 people joined in a march to the Trump International Hotel, two blocks away. Many stayed in front of the hotel for a spirited speak-out. At the beginning and end people took the pledge: “NO—In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!”

Throughout the speak-out, it was stressed that today, July 15, was a national day of action to drive out the Trump and Pence regime, in over 18 cities, and that everyone in attendance at the speak-out was contributing to adding powerful voices from DC to this national day of action.

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