Town Halls Become ‘Indivisible’ Epicenters as Trump Resistance Grows
(COMMON DREAMS) Nadia Prupis, February 11, 2017 — Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was confronted by angry crowds at a town hall in Salt Lake City on Thursday, over what they saw as his failure to properly investigate President Donald Trump’s conflicts of interests, in another showing of a growing resistance to the new administration.
Almost 1,000 constituents were gathered inside the Brighton High School auditorium, many booing and shouting, “Do your job!” at Chaffetz, who is chair of the House Oversight Committee, as he claimed that presidents are exempt from conflict of interest laws. At another point, when Chaffetz said he wanted to get rid of Trump’s recently-confirmed Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—indeed, he wants to eliminatethe Education Department as a whole—an audience member shouted, “We want to get rid of you!”
Outside, another large crowd shut out of the proceedings despite available seats chanted “vote him out,” and “Chaffetz is a coward.” At least one woman was arrested.
Chaffetz ultimately left 40 minutes early and refused to take questions from the press.
Republican lawmakers are increasingly facing protests at town halls and other events, as communities have been taking up the call of numerous resistance factions that formed after the election—with some inspired by the Indivisible Guide, a manual written by former congressional staffers that helps activists organize at the local level using the same tactics that Tea Party conservatives used successfully against former President Barack Obama.