BELFAST/ROCKLAND — With multiple chants, including ‘no one is above the law,’ citizens of Belfast and Rockland took to the streets as part of a nationwide rally “in support of protecting Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 election,” in the words of Belfast Maine activists, who circulated a press release about their rally earlier in the day, Nov. 8.

With more than 50 people, the Belfast protest came to occupy both sides of Main Street, with part of the group on one corner of Main Street and High Street, and the other standing directly opposite them, in front of a pizza shop. There was a variety of signs at both events, and a number of chants were led.

“What do we want?” one side of the street called, answered by the other side calling back “justice.”

Then came the next question, “when do we want it?”

“Now!” their fellow activists answered.

With the Main Street intersection busy at the 5 p.m. start time, many honked their horns at the group in support, which garnered cheers of appreciation for the many clutching homemade signs.

Judy, one local activist, said she was prompted to join the rally by fear of what could happen if the investigation is compromised.

“I’m so afraid of what will happen if we don’t defend democracy,” she said.

A fellow activist, Grey Larsen, who resides both in the Midcoast and in Bloomington, Indiana, said he has been to many protests, though this marked his first in Belfast.

When asked why he was protesting, Larsen said: “The misuse of power by high-ranking government officials, especially President Trump, needs to be counteracted by thousands and thousands and millions of people on the streets speaking out… The people have the power to change things, that’s the way big change really happens, meaningful change, by enough people rising up and speaking out and protesting. Millions of people. That gets the attention of our representatives in the government.”

Asked what he thought of the handling of the investigation, Larsen said he thinks Trump is acting like he has a lot to hide.

“If he truly believed he was innocent he would want this investigation to proceed to prove that point,” he said. “That he is doing everything he can to shut it down...he’s acting like a guilty person. He’s demonstrating to us all that he’s afraid of sunlight. He’s afraid of the light being shed, and he has a lot of power; Republicans are controlling the Senate and they seem to be little lap dogs for Trump, and so people have to speak up, in large numbers and forcefully.”

Activists in Rockland used similar chants during their simultaneous rally outside Rockland’s Union Street courthouse. 

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com