SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 15, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Hundreds of protesters gathered Saturday in Salt Lake City, on the day income tax returns traditionally are due, to call for President Donald Trump to share his previous returns, just as the eight presidents before him have done.
Protesters met downtown with the plan to march to a nearby Internal Revenue Service building.
“Right now, there are over 200 marches going on around the world, where constituents are demanding the president remain financially transparent,” protester Ana McNamer told Gephardt Daily.
“I’m here to support community activism and to demand that the president release his full and complete tax returns,” she said. “We’re marching from here to the IRS building to mail off some postcards to the president, demanding that he release all of his tax returns.
“This is really a gesture to the American people that he is honest, he has humility, integrity, and that he has nothing to hide. If he doesn’t have anything to hide, then this should be something easy for him to do.”
Speakers, including Dr. Kathryn Allen, an announced candidate for the third district seat currently held by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, (R-UT), rallied the assembled crowd, calling for transparency from Trump and other government officials.
“I’m here because Trump needs to show his taxes like every president since Nixon,” said protester Brenda Mortenson. “He’s not above the rest. He thinks he’s above us all, and he needs to comply. And I don’t like the Russia collusion. I think he needs to be impeached.”
Mortenson said she is worried about the direction Trump is taking the country.
“Let’s see some transparency, also in the White House,” she said. “He’s shutting down all the transparency. We need transparency like there used to be. I’m worried about our democracy. … He’s an amateur in government. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s got a bad ego for this. I’m afraid he’s going to get us into war.”
