Hundreds of people rallied in front of the Massachusetts State House advocating for the U.S. government to release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to the public on Thursday, April 4.
Boston residents Charlie Lord, Kim Spencer, and Matthew Murphy organized the Boston event, and representatives from the offices of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, and Rep. Joe Kennedy read statements on behalf of the politicians.
The Mueller Report follows an almost two-year-long investigation assigned to Mueller on May 17, 2017, to determine if President Donald Trump’s administration colluded with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. After Mueller submitted his findings to Attorney General William Barr for review on March 22, 2019, Barr wrote in a summary to Congress that he found no incriminating evidence of collusion.
Organizations Public Citizen, MoveOn.org, Common Cause, March for Truth, and Free Speech for People created the nationwide event that took place in more than seven cities across the U.S. including New York City, Syracuse, Miami, Bar Harbor, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston.
Lord said the event is in response to the Barr letter and the release of the full report not meeting its April 2 deadline. Lord added that the event marks the fourth nationwide rally made by March for Truth in Boston. The latest rally took place in November 2018 to protect the Muller investigation.
“We will continue to be out here in the streets giving people a voice until the report is released,” Lord said in an interview with the Beacon after the event. “It’s critical for the future of our country.”
Spencer listed a set of demands the rally called for including asking members of Congress to subpoena the contents of the report to make the investigation public.
“Americans across [different] backgrounds and political beliefs agree, the report must be made public,” Spencer said in a speech in front of the crowd.
People held up signs that read “Release the Report” and “Let’s Get Beyond the Barr” across the street from the State House.
In a statement read by Rory Clark, Markey’s aid, he called Barr’s summary a rush to judgment and said that Congress should reach its own conclusion of the president’s conduct.
“We shouldn’t write a book report based on the cliff notes and Congress shouldn’t make any final determination from this four-paged summary given to us by William Barr,” Sen. Markey’s statement read. “In this country, we still follow the rule of law, not the rule of Trump.”
Holding a rainbow flag with the word “peace” on it, David Anick, 62, said he believes in the importance of transparency and wants the full report sent to Congress.
“I think it’s important for something so monumental not be forgotten,” Anick said in an interview.
