“Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Treason! Trump has got to go!” some 50 people chanted in front of the White House. It was late Sunday night on August 26, just after 7:30 p.m. For many, that’s the time to wind down for bed and the oncoming week. That was not the case for these protestors, who were back for day 42 of an ongoing nightly protest calling for the removal of President Donald Trump from office.
The sky was getting darker and darker but the scene was illuminated by five individuals, each holding up red and orange letter lights, spelling out the word “shame,” as if it were a caption for the White House behind them.
The event was not only colored by letter lights, there was a trombone player, accompanied by a drummer and a crowd of protestors dancing to the music. Justin Johnson (31), of Silver Spring Maryland, led the protesters and sympathetic, onlooking tourists in anti-Trump chants.
The on-going protest, nicknamed the “Kremlin Annex” has drawn some participants every night since day one, while others come when they can. Some are locals, others come from as far away as San Diego and Spain. Some say they just stumbled on the Kremlin Annex while in D.C. on a break from business, others are tourists who agree with the cause.
The cause, according to the Kremlin Annex website was inspired by President Trump’s controversial performance at the U.S.-Russia Summit in Helsinki, Finland last July.
“Since Trump’s return from his Treasonous summit and secretive meeting with Putin in Helsinki, we have made it our mission to protest the occupant of our White House every night, rain or shine. We are standing up for democracy and national security, while combating Trump’s attempts to normalize his influence peddling for America’s greatest enemy,” the Kremlin Annex Website says.
According to Iryna Verity, who told the VOICE in a Facebook interview she is part of the organization behind the Kremlin Annex, the movement is informal. “We are as grassroots as it gets,” she said.
It was not only Trump’s alleged treason that motivated protestors. When protestor and D.C. resident Soloman Granor, 36, who was between jobs but had recently worked as a physicist, was asked by The VOICE what was motivating him, he responded, “what isn’t?”
Granor cited “Basically everything from this administration” including President Trump’s “frankly treasonist comments in Helsinki, the Muslim ban” and Trump’s controversial nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
There was at least one Trump supporter present that evening. His name is Penny Vu. He’s 46, lives in Virginia, and gives fingernail manicures for a living, he says. Vu was wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and holding an American flag. Gold colored Words: “In God We Trust” were written on it.
Vu, who says he actually voted for Hillary Clinton in the election, says his current efforts are “more than protest.” He told the VOICE that Trump “can do anything he wants even if it’s illegal” but that “everything goes to the Supreme Court.”
Asked why he supports President Trump he said “He’s making red and red and red every day.”
Vu was the lone Trump supporter in the small crowd.
“I want this [crowd] to grow until [Trump’s] out,” Amy Savin, 56, of Livingston, New Jersey told The VOICE. Savin says this was her second time protesting at the Kremlin Annex. She was there with her husband.
Johnson, the chant leader, and general emcee, recognized the Savins. He called them “the good couple from Jersey,” and pointed out they’d been at the Annex before. It was their way of celebrating their wedding anniversary, he said.
As Johnson acknowledged various people in the crowd it was clear there was a sense of community at the Annex.
The community aspect of the protest was especially evident when Irnya Verity, one of the speakers and regulars who says she has been there since day one, fought tears, reflecting on the loss of former Arizona Senator John McCain, who had passed away just the night before. She said his sensitivity to the turmoil in Ukraine was something she held dear.
“I want everybody to know how much he meant for a lot of Ukranians,” Verity said, then started to cry.
Johnson embraced her and said “That’s okay. That’s okay. We’ve got to encourage her, right?”
“Make some noise for her,” he said, and then started a chant for Verity: “She is my rock! She is my rock! She is my rock!”
