Pro-Trump supporters gather for rally in Springfield

More than a dozen people showed up at the corner of State Route 41 and North Bechtle Avenue in Springfield on Saturday at 2 p.m. to show support for President Donald Trump and his policies.

Rally participants chanted slogans such as “drain the swamp” and “make America great again.”

The rally was inspired by Main Street Patriots, a self-described national grassroots movement that has been organizing pro-Trump rallies across the country in what the group describes as a “Spirit of America” campaign.

The sign-waving event was organized by Laura Rosenberger, who led Trump’s Clark County campaign last year.

“I think that this has picked up across the nation just because Trump has been under attack by the media, by the Democrats, by the people in the bureaucracy and I think that is really horrible,” Rosenberger said. “We’ve never seen this before and we need to be out here supporting him and letting him now that we won’t stand for it, that this needs to stop and we need to support our president and let him do his job.”

Rosenberger also said she was persuaded to set up a rally in Springfield by her friend Ralph King, who has organized “Spirit of America” rallies across the state.

Rally-goers were met with both praise and jeers by cars driving by. They held signs that included phrasing such as “lock her up,” a reference to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“He (Trump) is all about America, everything that he is doing is in our interest and not in the interest of lining his own pockets,” said Marc Colwell, who went to the rally to show support. “All these representatives that are multi-millionaires on a government salary, all they have done is line their pockets and they don’t care about the American people.”

Colwell said he was happy to see rallies like this and that it is crucial for supporters to gather and show their strength.

The rally lasted until 3:30 and an organizational meeting was held after the event at IHOP to discuss future plans. Rosenberger said she was pleased with the turnout and may organize another rally and include political speakers.

There was no organized opposition present, but some community members have protested against the president and his policies. A protest was staged in February outside Congressman Warren Davidson’s downtown Springfield office by a local branch of the Indivisible movement, which aims to provide tactics and techniques in political activism for local grassroots movements. They were protesting the president’s immigration executive order and proposed Mexican border wall.

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