Hundreds of Santa Rosa demonstrators call on President Trump to release tax returns

Over 300 people gathered Saturday at the main post office in downtown Santa Rosa to call on President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.

The rally, held on what is typically the deadline date for filing federal income taxes, was sponsored by Indivisible Sonoma County. The new group has ties to both national and local organizations that formed since November to oppose the president’s agenda.

Similar rallies were held in Washington, D.C., and other communities across the U.S.

“I think it’s a shame we don’t have information about our president’s finances - and his potential conflicts of interest,” said Deborah Sweitzer, a member of the sign committee of Indivisible Sebastopol, one of four such groups in the county.

Rally sponsors said Trump has a duty to provide a basic level of transparency, as did his predecessors for four decades.

“Every president since Watergate has released his tax returns,” said Karen D’Or, a co-founder of Indivisible Sonoma County.

At the Second Street rally, Santa Rosa Vice Mayor Jack Tibbets and Councilman Chris Rogers encouraged listeners to continue their political activism.

Those gathered cheered when Tibbets reminded the crowd that the council in February declared Santa Rosa an “indivisible city.” Officials did so to show they would protect everyone in the city “whether they are an American citizen or not,” he said, a reference to the president’s repeated calls to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.

Rogers, meanwhile, criticized Trump for suggesting that paying no income taxes makes someone smart. And he pointedly noted that the president often travels to his Florida resort “to play golf at taxpayer expense.”

Those who attended the rally said it offered them a chance join like-minded people in opposing the president.

“We have to not allow this to become normal, because it’s not,” said Jeff Reynolds of Santa Rosa.

He held a sign picturing Trump in a Russian uniform in front of that nation’s flag. “Nyet My President,” the caption read.

U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating ties between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government. Reynolds’ friend George Lazos of Santa Rosa said the FBI needs to provide answers on what occurred between Russia and the Trump campaign during the last election. Otherwise, he said, in the future “people aren’t going to believe in the process.”

Lucia Cascio said she brought her 11-year-old son, Jaco Sodhi, to the rally to learn the value of political activism.

Cascio, a Santa Rosa resident, agreed with others who said the tax returns would better help Americans evaluate Trump’s policy proposals, including on tax matters.

“We need to know what his sources of income are,” she said.

The tax day rallies were mostly peaceful, except in Berkeley where police arrested more than a dozen people after fights broke out between Trump supporters and opponents, the Associated Press reported. It quoted organizers saying rallies took place Saturday in about 150 cities.

Sponsors said Indivisible is offering progressives the chance to follow the example of the tea party movement. The aim is to build groups with the power to influence the election and policy positions of members of Congress.

In November, Sonoma County voters overwhelmingly cast ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who came away with 68 percent of the local vote to Trump’s 22 percent.

Tibbets on Saturday recalled at his election night party that friends wept over the outcome of the presidential race. Even so, he said, the resulting activism will make the nation stronger.

“This is a new renaissance for us,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 707-521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit.