About 60 people gathered outside U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s State Street office in downtown Bangor at noon on Monday carrying “Impeach Trump” signs, a few days after a similarly-sized group of anti-impeachment Mainers held a rally in the same place.
The impeachment supporters — some of whom had travelled from Ellsworth and Bucksport — rallied outside the congressman’s office two days before the House of Representatives votes on whether to impeach President Donald Trump.
“We’re showing our support for the impeachment of President Trump and we’re also hoping that Jared Golden will also decide to support impeachment,” said Valerie Carter, who helped organize the gathering. “It’s a really scary time, that’s why I think a lot of people are here.”
In the crowd was Penobscot County Commissioner and Bangor-area lawyer Peter Baldacci, who stood by the entrance to Golden’s office holding a white sign that read “Stop the cover-up of corruption.”
“It’s a very important cause,” he said, explaining why he decided to join the rally. “We just want to support Jared to do the right thing.”
In groups of two or three, the protesters went into the congressman’s office to make their voices heard.
Throughout the protest, Melissa Berky stood outside 6 State Street with a big white sign resting against her legs that read, “The cover-up is clear enough. Impeach.” Berky is the organizer of Indivisible Bangor, a grassroots organization that plans to organize another pro-impeachment rally on Tuesday evening to coincide with thousands like it across the country.
“It’s really a constitutional crisis,” she said. “This is kind of an all-hands-on-deck moment. We all need to show up and ask our elected leaders to follow the truth and follow the law and vote to impeach Donald J. Trump.”
Golden has not specified how he plans to vote.
“I always welcome the opportunity to hear from my constituents and I’m glad they’re exercising their constitutional rights to organize and demonstrate,” Golden said in a statement. “The opinions I’ve heard from Mainers from across the political spectrum have been invaluable as I come to a decision on articles of impeachment.”