Greenup County will be site of protest on Saturday
ASHLAND Several groups in the region are planning a protest on Saturday about a variety of concerns in the United States.
One will be at the Taco Bell parking lot in Russell and it's being organized by the Greenup County Democratic Women.
Patricia Metz Stevens, president of the group, said several issues will be highlighted, including the dismantling of the government, the Department of Education, SNAP programs, unions, Medicaid and closing government facilities.
'It's about things that concern our people right here in our area,' Stevens said.
One of those concerns: The proposed closure of the Social Security Administration office in Portsmouth, Ohio, which the Department of Government Efficiency claims will save $92,317. Also on the list of Social Security offices to close are the ones in Hazard, Ky.; Mansfield, Ohio; and in Logan, W.Va.
'Democracy as we know it is being jeopardized,' Stevens said. 'It's frightening. ... Everything we have been reading is what we're concerned about.'
Stevens said anyone with concerns about the government is welcome to join the demonstration, planned for 1 to 3 p.m. Many will carry signs expressing the concern that's most pressing to them.
Grassroots protests also are planned for Louisville, Morehead, Danville, Lexington, Frankfort, Florence, Paducah, Franklin and Owensboro in Kentucky; Huntington, Charleston, Charles Town, Wheeling and Lewisburg in West Virginia; and at least 24 cities in Ohio. In fact, cities all over the world will be sites for protests.
Hundreds of rallies, marches and protests from Alaska to Hawaii to Northern Maine to Southeast Florida — plus four overseas — will bring hundreds of thousands into the streets to, as organizers put it, 'Stop the MAGA Assault on our country and our Constitution.'
Some of the organizers are the Women's March, Public Citizen, the Progressive Democrats of America, Indivisible and local unions. The Greenup event is part of Hands Off! Mass Mobilization. The website is handsoff2025.com.
Progressive Democrats of America chief Alan Minsky said protests will continue. One is planned for Tuesday, when Trump Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a GOP donor who's been given the assignment to destroy her department, visits San Diego three days later.
'We need a progressive force inside the Democratic Party' to take it over and take control from the D.C.-based corporate Democrats, their campaign consultants and their lobbyists, Minsky told 450 activists on a Zoom call this week.
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