New York [US], August 17: Pro-democracy activists and labor groups held hundreds of rallies and other events across the United States on Saturday protesting the Trump administration's push for Texas to redraw its congressional map in favor of Republicans.
Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke was among those who spoke on Saturday in Texas, from which dozens of Democratic state lawmakers fled to deny Republicans the quorum needed to vote on a redistricting plan that President Donald Trump had demanded.
"They do this because they are afraid," O'Rourke told an audience on Saturday, speaking of those attempting redistricting. "They fear this power they see here today."
Drucilla Tigner, executive director of pro-democracy coalition Texas For All, told
Reuters pro-democracy and labor groups held over 300 events attended by tens of thousands of people in 44 states and Washington, D.C.
Many of the more than 50 Texas Democrats who fled the state have been staying in Illinois, also the site of protests on Saturday. The Texas lawmakers in Illinois are out of reach of civil arrest warrants that could be acted on within Texas.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation