Allison Gorman
Around 20 protesters gathered in Miller Park on a cold Saturday afternoon to protest Rep. Chuck Fleischmann’s leadership. Co-organizer Allison Gorman also said senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty "should not be given a pass either."
“This gathering is to hold Chuck Fleischmann publicly accountable for the fact that he voted to essentially throw away the votes of millions of American people,” Ms. Gorman said. “Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty were going to do it for sure, but then they realized it wasn’t a good look because of what had happened earlier in the day.”
Rep. Fleischmann was one of 121 representatives and six senators to object to the certification of the Electoral College count. Senators Hagerty and Blackburn both voted to approve the results after rioters stormed the capitol on Wednesday afternoon. While Rep. Fleischmann did condemn the actions that took place, the protest organizer said he was not excused for previous actions.
“I think he is a political opportunist, and he has spent almost four years helping foment and enabling the sort of deranged thinking that led to that attack on the US Capitol,” Ms. Gorman said. “So to stand there and disavow what happened, I think that’s disingenuous.”
Fellow organizer Gary Smith said he and Ms. Gorman had actually been planning to have this rally before Wednesday's attack on the Capitol. He called their representative's wish to nullify votes in Arizona as “scary,” and asked for proof of a fraudulent election.
“They’re doing it saying time and time again that it’s a fraudulent election, and they’ve got a lot of the country angry,” Mr. Smith said. “That’s going to make angry people furious. When they started doing that, I called their offices and asked them to stop. Wait for investigations and wait on the courts and let evidence come out. It led to what we were worried about.
“I think the fact that this coup failed was a very positive thing in making people less likely to try this again. Or that’s what I hope. What could be is that they got this far, and that could encourage them.”
Ms. Gorman said even though they disapprove of Rep. Fleischmann’s leadership and actions while in office, defeating him in an election in 2022 will be difficult for several reasons.
“We start organizing now. We have to change the message,” Ms. Gorman said. “We are in a crazily gerrymandered district, so to that degree, his seat is safe because it’s been drawn that way for him. So if we want to beat that, then we need to start organizing now, regardless of who runs against him.”
Samuel McKinney was one of the people in the socially-distanced crowd who signed a petition that will be sent to Rep. Fleischmann’s office. Mr. McKinney said, "Chuck, do not ever thank me for my service ever again,” McKinney said. “You don’t mean it. I was Navy, on the USS America. Served from 1975 to 1977.”
Gary Smith