Strategically lined up, side-by-side, anti-Trump demonstrators gathered in Ocean Beach Saturday with one mission: to spell out the word "IMPEACH" on the sand.
At the "March 4 Impeach," the group stood on Dog Beach in OB, in a human formation that spelled out the word. The message was directed at President Donald Trump.
The demonstration was inpispired by a recent, similar gathering at a beach in San Francisco where demonstrators spelled out "RESIST!!" on the sand.
According to the March 4 Impeach event page on Facebook, the gathering was meant to call attention to the possibility of impeaching Trump.
Sandy Goble, who walked in the Women’s March in January, attended the gathering in Ocean Beach. She told NBC 7 she is frustrated with the current administration for a number of reasons, and that she doesn’t know where to begin to list them all.
“I’ve been quiet and very upset with what’s going on,” Goble said. “The Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for not doing more to investigate the obvious Russian ties.”
Frank Gormlie, a long-time Ocean Beach local and business owner, shared the same sentiments as Goble.
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“We’re calling for an investigation into Trump’s violations of the Constitution and his Russian connections. We think that by spelling out the word impeach, that people are willing to come out and demand that action,” he explained.
“We don’t believe in the ban, we don’t believe in the wall, and we support equal rights for everyone -- regardless of gender, race, religion,” said Jessica Jones, another demonstrator. “We’re here to show each other, and the world, that there are like-minded people out here who don’t support what’s going on."
Lori Saward, Founder of Indivisable San Diego, said the idea to spell the word "Impeach" originally started out as an art project for the anti-Trump group, OB Resist. Indivisible San Diego Central wanted to help, so they joined in the efforts.
“We’re a border city. We stand with our immigrants, and we stand as a city that is inclusive,” Saward told NBC 7. “That’s why we came together to show that solidarity. We are for all people.”
In stark contrast to the impeachment movement in Ocean Beach, two pro-Trump rallies also happened in San Diego on Saturday.
Elizabeth Torphy, from Orange County, drove to San Diego for the pro-Trump event downtown.
Wearing a shirt that read "Make America Great Again," she told NBC 7 that, as a Trump supporter, she wants her voice heard.
“There are so many pro-Trump supporters out there, and we need to be heard. I want our voices to be heard," said Torphy. "I say, ‘My vote, my voice.’ And that’s what I mean, my voice counts.”
“That just shows you that the resist movement is so sweeping and huge that people are unhappy and feel that the country is going in the wrong direction,” Lori Saward said in response to the pro-Trump rallies.
“If they feel the need to have a Trump rally, when they already have the Presidency, the House and the Senate, then I don’t understand why they need to rally,” she said. “They’re obviously feeling the pressure from so many Americans that are shocked still that [President Trump] won the election.”
