— Sunrise Movement Virginia 🌅 (@SunriseVirginia) August 18, 2020
Wake-Up Bill
“William Barr has consistently proven he is Donald Trump’s Public Defender, NOT the Attorney General charged with enforcing the laws set in place to uphold the sanctity of democracy. He has chosen to protect Donald Trump and his allies rather than to serve the American people and the Constitution. For that, we held this Wide Awake action to call attention to his corruption and his mishandling of the Department of Justice.”
Barr’s security team “politely” engaged with the Sunrise(rs) as they came up to chauffeur him into another day of democracy suppression. Barr, however, didn’t as he rushed out of his side door into the waiting suburban assault vehicle.
Below is the Sunrise Virginia press release from the event.
Youth Activists from
Sunrise Movement
Target Attorney General Barr
August 18, 2020 – At 6:00 AM this morning, youth activists from Sunrise Movement chapters McLean and Fairfax
Wake Up Bill
County gathered at the home of William Barr in an effort to call attention to his actions as Attorney General Speakers at this morning’s action included organizers Leah Siegel and John Henry Williams.
“William Barr has consistently proven he is Donald Trump’s Public Defender, NOT the Attorney General charged with enforcing the laws set in place to uphold the sanctity of democracy,” said Leah Siegel, the lead organizer of this protest. “He has chosen to protect Donald Trump and his allies rather than to serve the American people and the Constitution. For that, we held this Wide Awake action to call attention to his corruption and his mishandling of the Department of Justice.”
The organizers were also joined by ally groups Sunrise Movement DC, Freedom Fighters DC, and Mothers Out Front Fairfax County. Together, these activists led chants, sang songs, gave speeches, and let Attorney General Barr know that they refused to tolerate his immoral actions as Attorney General and that they are wide awake to his wrongdoings.
“As a child, my family was ripped apart by the racist drug war. As an adult living in the nation’s capital I have been pepper sprayed, tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets and beaten with batons. The message my entire life long has been the same: justice in America is a sham, and questioning or deviating from that charade will result in the broken system attacking you,” said John Henry Williams, Sunrise’s mid-Atlantic regional coordinator. “From democrats to republicans, brutality driven cops to attorney generals, enough is enough. In this country justice is supposed to be blind, not sleeping, and as the highest law enforcement officer in the land, it is Attorney General William Barr’s responsibility to wake the hell up and get to work. Deal with a broken criminal justice system, hold your powerful wealthy friends to account, stand against the fascism you are enabling in the president, and maybe for the first time in quite possibly ever, prove to me and my generation that America actually stands for liberty and justice FOR ALL.”
At 7:00am, the protesters started making noise by chanting, banging pots and pans, and calling for William Barr to be held accountable for his actions. Barr ducked into a car around 7:30, avoiding the activists, and left his home.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
