We the People Wednesdays Action for June 17
ACTION 1:
Last week more than 100 agents with the Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I. raided the offices and staff homes of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a progressive organization focused on social justice and voting rights. Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown called the action a transparent attempt at silencing Ohioans that would imperil free and fair elections in the state. Advocates in Ohio are organizing a rally and teach-in tomorrow to protest the federal acts of voter intimidation. Let’s let the DOJ know that people outside Ohio are watching too.
Write to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Adapt this sample text:
Dear Attorney General Blanche,
Voter intimidation, like the raids on OOC in Ohio last week, have no place in our democracy.
Sincerely,
<your name and zip>
Attorney General Todd Blanche
U.S. Dept. of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20530
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ACTION 2:
After the Trump-handpicked Kennedy Center board voted last December to rename the institution the "Trump-Kennedy Center," Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), an ex officio board member, said her phone was muted so that she was unable to vote or voice opposition during that meeting. She filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the renaming was illegal because Congress designated the center as a memorial solely to John F. Kennedy and that only an act of Congress could change it. She ultimately prevailed: a D.C. district court judge ruled in her favor, and the Kennedy Center no longer carries Trump's name, with the court also ordering the board to let her attend and speak at meetings going forward. As Beatty put it, "The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump."
Write to thank Rep. Beatty. Adapt this sample text:
Dear Rep. Beatty,
Thank you for standing up to restore the name and a measure of integrity to the Kennedy Center.
Sincerely,
<your name and zip>
Rep. Joyce Beatty
2079 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515