Protest to protect Mueller investigation planned for 5 p.m. on Norwalk Green

NORWALK — Activists planning to gather on the Norwalk Green at 5 p.m. today as part of a nationwide protest to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 election may need to find a new location.

“Norwalk Police Department has been in touch with the organizers, as well as with the First Taxing District. The event organizers are working on a secondary location,” Sgt. Sophia Gulino said just before 2 p.m. Thursday.

The local protest ran into problems due to its location on the green, which is owned and maintained by the First Taxing District.

“I just got off the phone with the deputy (police) chief. I told the deputy chief we have no knowledge of it (the protest), and he reached out to one of the organizers and told them it needs a permit, an insurance certificate and approval of the board of commissioners,” said Taxing District General Manager Dominic DiGangi. “He’s informed them they don’t have approval to use the green.”

The nationwide protest, organized by TrumpIsNotAboveTheLaw.org, comes after President Donald J. Trump named Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general, giving him oversight of the Mueller investigation. Whitaker replaces Jeff Sessions, who resigned under pressure from Trump.

“Ever since the president has made noises about discontinuing Mueller, we wanted to make sure that nobody is above the law,” said Batya Diamond, a volunteer with TrumpIsNotAboveTheLaw. “We would like to make sure that the investigation is seen to the conclusion.”

As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 800 people had RSVP’d yes to the event, though Diamond said they don’t expect everyone to turn out.

“The activists will demand that Whitaker recuse himself given his conflicts of interest and previous statements attacking the investigation,” TrumpIsNotAboveTheLaw.orgsaid in a statement Wednesday.

The group noted that the protests come after Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections won control of the U.S. House of Representatives and promised to investigate the Trump administration.

—Staff writer Justin Papp contributed to this report.