GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A group that supports President Donald Trump will host a rally denouncing U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the first Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against Trump, on Friday, June 14, in Grand Rapids.

“We want to make sure he knows here in Michigan we support our president,” said Diane Schindlbeck, a Fremont resident and co-founder of Michigan Trump Republicans. “Justin Amash, as one of the elected officials here in West Michigan, is not listening to his own voter base, and his behavior is just ridiculous.”

Her group will host a rally from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building, 110 Michigan St. NW. Amash’s Grand Rapids office is located inside the building.

The fifth-term congressman drew controversy last month when he became the first Republican in Congress to call for impeachment proceedings against Trump in the wake of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into 2016 election interference. The investigation did not establish that Trump or any of his aides coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 election but left open the question of whether Trump obstructed justice.

Amash’s impeachment comments, made on Twitter, drew scorn from party leaders, and two people — State Rep. Jim Lower, R-Greenville, and Tom Norton, a former Sand Lake Village Trustee — now say they will challenge Amash in the August 2020 Republican primary.

Schindlbeck’s group has launched a website, nojustinamash.com, that includes a petition calling on Amash to resign, as well as a section detailing what it calls the congressman’s “awful voting history.” She will be collecting petition signatures during the rally.

“Hopefully we get 30 to 50 people” to attend the rally, she said. “But with the way our phones have been blowing up we might have close to 100 people.”

Schindlbeck said she served as co-chair of Trump’s 2016 campaign for Ottawa and Muskegon counties. Her group’s mission is to support Trump as well as local and state candidates who embrace the president and his agenda.

Amash was greeted by a largely supportive audience last week at his first town hall meeting in Grand Rapids since calling for impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Schindlbeck said she doesn’t believe that support extends to most voters in Amash’s district.

“I think the ones who have fire in their belly were the ones who attended but everyone else who supports the president were like, ‘we don’t even want to hear you,’” she said.

She added, “The average voter is not going to be there and be confrontational with him. I think it was the people who are really upset and more brave.”

Schindlbeck said her group, at this time, has not endorsed one of the candidates challenging Amash.

“It’s way too early to get behind either one of those candidates,” she said. “We need to make sure we have the right candidate out there.”