Protester in Ann Arbor Michigan January 16 2012 "Occupy Detroit" member during a march to Governor Rick Snyder's home.
Hundreds of people joined together in a march to Gov. Rick Snyder's Superior Township home Monday evening to protest Public Act 4, which places emergency financial managers in struggling cities throughout Michigan The event, which organizers said was held “in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr.,” was promoted on Facebook by Occupy for Democracy, and was supported by several other organizations including other Occupy groups within the state, United Auto Workers, Washtenaw Community Action Team, AFSCME and the NAACP. Young Democrats of Michigan President and one of the event organizers, Zachary Steve, said Public Act 4 takes away the individual's vote and is un-American. “We came out here because the emergency manager law gives one individual the power over a city or school district, the ability to cut any contracts, to bust our unions, the ability to remove the elected officials that the people decided on within that city,” he said. Steve said the turnout was good, and better than he had expected. “I think we had somewhere around 2,000 people here. We definitely made our voice heard,” he said. “We got the point across that this is un-American in its implementation.” Although Steve estimates attendance at 2,000, Michigan State Police officers estimated the group to be between 800 and 1,000. Those in attendance hailed from all over the state. Public Act 4 is Michigan's new emergency manager law, which was approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature last year and signed by Snyder. The law, which allows state-appointed emergency managers to remove local elected officials from office, is viewed by many Democrats as a threat to democracy. Monday's Occupy for Democracy rally purposely falls on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and plan to honor King's legacy by protesting the law. "We want the governor to change his mind, and hopefully he sees that there is an uprising of folks across the state particularly from urban areas who really care about democracy"
Size: 3648px × 2736px
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Photo credit: © Cynthia Lindow / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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