GREENFIELD — About two dozen community members gathered on the Greenfield Common on Saturday, as part of an effort to counter white supremacy and call for the removal of President Donald Trump from office.
Messages on the signs at Saturday’s two vigils — which follow the events in Washington D.C. last week, where Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in protest of the election results — included support for the Black Lives Matter movement, calls to remove Trump from office, and general calls for peace and democracy.
The vigils, which were attended by activists from Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution’s peace group, Racial Justice Rising and the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, took place from 10 a.m. to noon. The first was a Racial Justice Rising vigil from 10 to 11 a.m., while the second was a vigil for peace and democracy.
“It’s all about justice,” said Emily Greene, referencing a comment another attendee had made to her that both vigils were, effectively, for the same cause. “It’s really one continuous vigil where we’re speaking out against the injustices we see.”
Greene, a member of Racial Justice Rising who helped to organize the event Saturday, said although the group regularly holds vigils at the common, Saturday’s offered an opportunity for the group to “expand” its message beyond the Black Lives Matter movement.
“We are saying, ‘Trump needs to go now,’” she said. “We should never see a Confederate flag in our Capitol again, and it would be nice if we could just never see the flag again.”
Greene was referring to images of the Confederate flag inside the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6. She noted it is important for people to recognize what it means for a Black person to see that flag.
“A lot of people (I talked to) are really troubled over the division in our country that the election showed,” Greene said. “(President-elect) Biden won, for sure, but there were 74 million people who voted for Trump.”
Greene said those on the common on Saturday didn’t only feel strongly about what Trump has done, but what he could do between now and the inauguration on Jan. 20.
“There’s all kinds of things he can still do that could be very dangerous for our country,” she said. “I’m hoping, somehow, we’ll be able to put some restraint on what he can do.”
That’s why many attendees held signs calling for the removal of Trump from office. At least one sign referenced invoking the 25th Amendment, which would require Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the Cabinet to vote on his removal.
Greene spoke instead of impeachment, explaining that after Trump’s remarks that some believe incited the riots last week, and after pressuring the Georgia secretary of state to overturn the election results in a phone call on Jan. 2, the president has “absolutely done impeachable offenses.”
“One of the things that can happen if we don’t have the impeachment is he can run again in 2024,” she said. “That’s not something I want to see happen.”
According to the Associated Press, an impeachment by the House and a conviction by the Senate could prevent Trump from running for office again.
Overall, she said, Saturday proved to be an good turnout, “for our little town.”
“I do want to see our town … willing to look at the fact that we have our problems here — just like anywhere else —with racism and white supremacy,” she said. “I think it’s top of the list that we as a country need to find some resolution on.”
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne