Over three days last week, the Remove the Regime Coalition brought thousands into DC to demand that Congress “Impeach, convict and remove Trump.” This featured a kickoff march on Thursday that was followed by a day of lobbying where hundreds marched through the halls of Congress. A vets protest was held on Friday under the banner, "Remember Your Oath." The speakers were veterans who talked about the urgency of speaking out, and standing against, fascism now. Some talked about the harm the Trump regime has done, from ICE and detainees, to attacks on women and on trans people, to genocide in Palestine, to attacks on health care, to assaults on education, free speech and much more. There were repeated and powerful reminders to active-duty soldiers that they took an oath to the Constitution, and not to a fascist tyrant.

On Saturday, there was a rally and enthusiastic march of over 10,000 people. People came from across the country, and the region, to demand the removal of the Trump regime.

Some speakers conveyed a strong sense of urgency—that we have to act right now, not wait, and not expect someone else to take this responsibility. Others focused on the specific process of impeach/convict remove.  There was a powerful set from Dropkick Murphys and a visceral song about the impact of fascism from Earth to Eve.

All this brought important energy and public pressure and opposition to Trump into the nation's capital and this is a positive contribution to the mass struggle that is needed to bring about the regime's removal. At the same time, while impeachment could be one means through which this demand is met, it is not the only means through which Trump could be nonviolently removed. Even more essential: it is unlikely in the extreme that it would be brought about without a massive, nonviolent, sustained struggle of millions demanding Trump's removal. Also, the terms and pacing of this struggle must not be set by congressional calendars and procedures; the pace of the fascist juggernaut is way too urgent for that. And while lobbying can certainly play a role, such activity cannot substitute for what must ultimately be millions in the streets in sustained nonviolent protest—centered in Washington, DC.

This makes it all the more important that Refuse Fascism is building on and stepping up their efforts to call forward growing mass, nonviolent protest in DC with their call to Surround the White House Monday, November 24, and will be announcing more plans soon.