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Protests Planned For Bangor, Dover-Foxcroft As Trump Visits Maine

Organizers are planning rallies in both Bangor and Dover-Foxcroft to protest President Donald Trump’s visit to Piscataquis County on Friday.

Trump is visiting Guilford’s Puritan Medical Products, which has been producing hundreds of thousands of specialized swabs for COVID-19 tests. But the appearance has already led Gov. Janet Mills to voice concerns about “security problems.”

Organizers say concerns over safety led them to direct protestors to Bangor, instead of Guilford, which has a population of around 1,500.

Rob Laraway of the Maine People’s Alliance says organizers are working with faith leaders and will have trained de-escalators on-site in an effort to avoid any conflict.

“That’s why we have faith leaders sort of taking the lead here, in terms of bringing out a message of love in Bangor,” he says.

Rev. Malcolm Hinshoot, of Orono’s Church of Universal Fellowship, says he’s upset about Trump’s recent photo-op with a Bible outside of a church in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, which was staged after police used tear gas to disperse peaceful protestors from the area.

“We believe that black lives are sacred. Many of us hold the Holy Bible as sacred. And this week was very upsetting, because President Trump desecrated both those things at the same time in his publicity stunt in D.C.,” he says.

A newly formed Facebook page, called “Maine for Trump,” has organized an event in Guilford on Friday morning to support the president’s visit.