Ahead of a presidential impeachment vote in the U.S. House, and with a trial looming in the Senate, hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside the Overland Park, Kansas, office of U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts in an effort to convince him to break with his Republican colleagues.
The House vote is expected to fall largely along party lines.
Roberts, who plans to retire when his fourth term expires next year, has not publicly stated how he intends to vote.
About 200-300 protestors lined the intersection of College Boulevard and Quivira Road next to the senator's regional office beginning around 5:30 p.m.
"I love this crowd," proclaimed Stacy Arey, a Shawnee resident who held a sign saying "No one is above the law."
"This is Johnson County, this is Kansas," she said. "Kansas is turning blue. ... I've never seen an administration this lawless. I want them to be held accountable."
A similar protest near the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, drew a crowd that participants estimated to be in the hundreds. The events were part of a nationwide effort Tuesday to hold rallies to support the impeachment and removal of President Trump from office.
More than 600 such events were expected across the country, which organizers said took place before an expected vote Wednesday on whether to impeach President Trump in the U.S. House of Representatives. A trial in the Senate is expected in January.
The rallies were planned by MoveOn.org, a progressive adovcacy group that was founded in response to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998.
"We'll head to every congressional office and public square to declare that Nobody Is Above the Law as representatives finalize their positions and senators look on," the organizers wrote online.
That most recent impeachment proceeding was on the mind of David Lewis, an attorney from Leawood who attended the Overland Park rally.
Roberts voted to impeach Clinton, Lewis noted.
"So now here's his chance to show what he's made of. If he's going to vote for somebody that was lying to Congress... now vote for Trump's impeachment. In other words, don't just go party lines — vote for your conscience and the country."
Chris Haxel is a reporter for KCUR 89.3. Email him at chaxel@kcur.org, and follow him on Twitter @ChrisHaxel.
