GL_111518

16 | November 15, 2018 | The glenview lantern news
glenviewlantern.com
Protesters march in Glenview to show ‘what democracy looks like’
Jacqueline Zeisloft
Freelance Reporter
Residents from Glenview
were among the thousands
of Americans who
took to their streets Thursday,
Nov. 8, to rally in support
of Special Counsel
Robert Mueller’s investigation
into possible Russian
interference in the 2016
presidential election.
Village residents, and
others from around the
North Shore, gathered in
downtown Glenview to
call for Mueller’s investigation
to be protected from
acting Attorney General
Matthew Whittaker, who
succeeded former Attorney
General Jeff Sessions
after his resignation on
Wednesday, Nov. 7.
The protesters also focused
their indignation on
President Donald Trump’s
recent handling of the Russia
probe and vented their
frustrations regarding other
contentious national issues.
Marching down Glenview
Road from the Glenview
Veterans Memorial,
the crowd chanted “Wake
up Congress. Do your job”
and “Let Mueller finish,”
as they made their way
toward the train tracks.
The Glenview Police
Department was on the
scene, directing traffic to
ensure protesters remained
safe. The group eventually
posted up on the steps of
the Glenview train station,
unintentionally functioning
as a welcome wagon
for evening commuters
stepping off at the station.
Countless honks from
passing cars and cheers
of support from passersby
electrified the protesters,
who were shivering in the
brisk evening air.
At the protest’s height,
about 100 people gathered
at the steps of the
station, with protesters
Protesters walk through downtown Glenview Thursday, Nov. 8, to support Special
Counsel Robert Mueller and protest against President Donald Trump. Photos by
Jacqueline Zeisloft/22nd Century Media
coming from Glenview,
Northbrook, Lake Forest,
Skokie, downtown
Chicago and other local
communities to join
the evening rally.
Men and women held
candles, American flags
and signs reading, “Nobody
is Above the Law”
and “Protect Mueller.”
After the stress of the
Nov. 6 midterm elections,
one might have expected
the usual post-election lull,
but on Thursday night,
North Shore residents
showed they need no break
from campaigning and
pushing for change.
“Just when we thought
we could relish in a blue
ripple,” said protest organizer
Cathy Wilson, alluding
to the Democrats’
recent takeover of the U.S.
House of Representatives.
Wilson, of Glenview,
started attending and organizing
protests like the one
on Thursday after Trump
was elected. Earlier this
year, she facilitated protests
against family separation at
the border and a rally in opposition
of then-nominee
and now-Supreme Court
Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“We have great
turnouts,” Wilson said of
the local protests. “It is
really encouraging to be
around passionate people,
to share in their anger but
also their cause.”
With Sessions’ resignation
coming just 24 hours
before the protest in Glenview,
Trump’s unexpected
move to remove Sessions
from his post was
a great cause of concern
at the protest.
Ginny Clark, of Chicago,
said she was “very disturbed
by the firing of Jeff
Sessions.”
Whitaker has gone on record
in the past to express
his frustration and opposition
to the way Mueller
is conducting his investigation
into any potential
criminal wrongdoing by
foreign governments or
state actors, particularly
Russia, during the 2016
presidential election.
Should Whittaker ignore
growing calls to recuse
himself from the investigation,
he will have
oversight of the investigation
as the nation’s acting
attorney general.
Clark, like many of
Thursday’s protesters, is
worried that the switch is a
not-so-subtle and unconstitutional
attempt by Trump
to control and shut down
the investigation.
“After two years of
Trump’s criminal activity,
I am disappointed that people
are still voting for him,”
Clark said.
Shayna Olufs, of Glenview,
heard about the protest
through the progressive
public policy advocacy
group MoveOn.
“There are many causes
we have to protest,” Olufs
said. “A red line has
been crossed. Our entire
democracy is in jeopardy.”
The crowd was there
to protest the handling of
the Russia probe, but they
were there for more reasons
than just the firing of
Sessions and appointment
of Whitaker.
Protesters took turns telling
stories and yelling out
battle cries over Wilson’s
megaphone that denounced
Trump, the National Rifle
Association and U.S. immigration
policy, among
other hot-button issues.
Some older members
of the crowd compared
this time of civil unrest in
America to the political
climate during Vietnam.
Protest organizer Cathy Wilson (center), of Glenview,
speaks Thursday, Nov. 8, in support of Special Counsel
Robert Mueller.
Others used the platform
to celebrate the Democratic
victory in the House and
the record-breaking number
of women elected to
Congress.
Gillian Giudice, a Glenview
native, made an impassioned
statement at
the rally about the need
to stay politically active
and engaged.
“We can’t live in a silo. In
the suburbs, we are insulated
from our responsibility
to protect vulnerable communities.
We have a lot of
material and political privilege,”
Giudice said, encouraging
those who identify as
apolitical to look outside
their “insulated” communities
and tap into the current
political landscape.
As the rally neared its
end, a man in his mid-20s
took to the steps in counterprotest.
He told the crowd
to “go home,” telling them
the “protest is over.”
When asked about the
results of last week’s
midterms, Robert Easter,
of Chicago, said he was
“disappointed” with the
results from the senate
race. Later in the evening,
Easter took to the megaphone
and called for
those in the crowd to
“put pressure on your
representatives.”
As the last protesters
made their way from the
station back to their cars,
Patricia Gainsberg and
her 6-year-old daughter,
Ava, straggled at the back
of the crowd.
Gainsberg, of Northfield,
has taken her daughter to
multiple marches, including
the last two Women’s
Marches and the March
for Our Lives. Gainsberg
said she believes it’s important
to take Ava to
marches to show her “what
democracy looks like.”
“She told me she wanted
to come out tonight,”
Gainsberg said. “This is
what democracy looks like.
Right, Ava?”
Ava, smiling and donning
a red, white and blue
T-shirt reading, “Protest is
Patriotic,” didn’t seem to
mind the cold or the crowd.
Swaying and holding her
mom’s hand, she sang,
“This is what democracy
looks like. This is what
democracy looks like.”