Bay Area joins nationwide protests against Trump

Activists across the Bay Area Thursday evening protested President Donald Trump’s replacement of his attorney general after Jeff Sessions resigned on Wednesday.

Trump has since appointed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, who protesters claim is a Trump “loyalist” who will stifle the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

They are calling for a “rapid response” to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is overseeing the investigation, and they are organizing in hundreds of United States cities as well as Amsterdam, Rome, Toronto and other international locations.

Protests began at 5 p.m. Pacific time in Monterey, San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Mateo, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Richmond and smaller cities.

The activists have identified themselves as NobodyisAbovetheLaw.org, a community-built movement that has organized the international protests.

The group said in a news release:

“The Nobody Is Above the Law network demands that Whitaker immediately commit not to assume supervision of the investigation. … Our hundreds of response events are being launched to demonstrate the public demand for action to correct this injustice.”