Anti-Trump protesters warned to stay out of Guilford on Friday
At least one activist group is warning protesters to stay out of Guilford for President Donald Trump’s visit on Friday, instead planning a protest in Bangor due to fears of conflict with Trump supporters.
A Facebook posting from a group called We Are Maine said that if people were going to go to Guilford to protest the president’s visit, they should be aware of the possible risks.
“According to local organizers, there will also be an unconfirmed (large) number of Trump supporters planning to travel to the Guilford area, some of whom will be armed,” the group’s posting states. “The past recent instances of Secret Service violence against peaceful protesters in Washington, DC have also demonstrated that there is a high likelihood that even peaceful protests against Trump’s visit in Guilford may be met with violence.”
“We understand that this is not an ideal situation, but we are committed to minimizing the risk of harm to Mainers as a result of these events. Anyone planning to go to the Guilford area to protest needs to be aware of these risks,” the posting continued.
The group instead plans a peaceful protest in Bangor from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday at 690 Maine Ave. in Bangor, according to the posting.
The president plans to visit Puritan Medical Products, one of the world’s two largest producers of the medical swabs used to test for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. More than 300 workers are employed at the Guilford facility. He will also attend a discussion in Bangor with commercial fisheries stakeholders.
The Guilford visit is the president’s fourth to a factory producing supplies to help fight the coronavirus, following recent trips to Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona — three states that Trump won in 2016 but are considered competitive in 2020. This will be Trump’s first trip to Maine since his first presidential campaign, and takes place while the continuing pandemic along with the fallout from the police-related death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week have heightened tensions around the country.
Some Guilford residents have had a mixed reaction to the news, but Trump defeated Hillary Clinton 401-222 in Guilford’s 2016 presidential popular vote, helping him capture the one electoral vote that goes to the winner of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. Videos posted to social media have shown government helicopters practicing takeoffs and landings at the high school this week.
His arrival has not been greeted warmly by Maine’s highest-profile politicians, with Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, saying she was worried the president’s visit would create unrest. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who denounced Trump in 2016 and has yet to indicate whether she will support him this year, will be working in Washington rather than joining him in Guilford on Friday, according to her staff.
The groups reposting the request against anti-Trump protests in Guilford include Indivisible WaCo, Bangor Indivisible and a Maine chapter of Black Lives Matter.
Other postings have warned protesters to stay away from Guilford. One such posting said that downtown Guilford is small, the visit could place inflate towns’ and Piscataquis County Board of Commissioner costs, and the visit risks the spread of the coronavirus into the county, which has had only one confirmed case of COVID-19.