A group of leaders of the SaveOurselves Movement for Justice and Democracy protested Tuesday, December 15, in front of Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office at 501 Washington Street in Montgomery.
The protest was to denounce and question Marshall’s decision to join with 17 other Republican Attorney Generals from around the nation, in a Texas lawsuit to question absentee voting in four states – Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania – and throw out the legally cast votes, many by Black and Brown people in those states.
The United States Supreme Court, wisely rejected and declined to hear the Texas lawsuit, which was part of a continuing campaign by President Trump and his backers to disenfranchise legitimate votes and take away the election victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on November 3, 2020.
The protestors carried signs that said: AG Marshall you must resign;
Marshall you abused your powers, you acted lawlessly; Prosecute yourself – AG Marshall; You betrayed the voters of Alabama.
Faya Rose Toure, SOS leader and attorney from Selma said, “We are demanding that Attorney General Marshall resign. He used Alabama funds backing a frivolous law to challenge the legitimate votes of Blackfolks in four other states. He joined a lawsuit to challenge legal actions in other states, who voted for Biden, even though we did the same things in Alabama, where Trump won.”
John Zippert, SOS Steering Committee member from Greene County said, “Who authorized Attorney General Marshall to spend time and money on lawsuits to fight things that many Alabama citizens support. Not only did he join this recent lawsuit against other states voting rights but he joined the lawsuit to rule the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional, which will deny healthcare coverage to millions of people in Alabama and around the nation.
Zippert also read portions of a letter sent by Bernard Simelton, President of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP to Attorney General Marshall. The letter says, “We are outraged that you chose to involve the state of Alabama in a baseless and frivolous lawsuit aimed at overturning an American Election. If the citizens of this state and nation do not have the right to vote in an American Election, we call upon you to explain to us why.”
The letter concludes saying, “It is very disturbing to see you take such a bold step to support a lawsuit that is racist on its face. The unmitigated gall to invalidate millions of votes cast by African Americans and people of color is insulting at best and criminal at worst – we are grateful that the Supreme Court twice rejected you and 106 Congresspersons, and hope we can get back to the business of addressing real voter suppression in the state of Alabama instead of chasing down unsubstantiated claims in other states.”
This letter was signed by SOS, Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Alabama Arise, Greater Birmingham Ministries, in addition to the NAACP.