Protesters gear up for Trump's Cape visit!

Protesters gear up for Trump's Cape visit

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Gabrielle Rosson, of Osterville, her 9-year-old son, Christian, right, and Todd Willoughby, of Sandwich, are among those planning to take part in a protest march during Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's visit to Osterville for a fundraiser Saturday. Steve Haines/Cape Cod Times


•  by Geoff Spillane Posted Aug. 4, 2016 at 8:43 PM 

  
  

  
  

  OSTERVILLE — Just days before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a high-priced fundraiser in Oyster Harbors, a group has formed on the Cape to plan a protest march near the approach to the reception venue.
  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  A Facebook group called “Cape Cod Against Trump 2016” was created by 38-year-old Osterville resident Gabrielle Rosson on Wednesday night and by midday Thursday had nearly 250 members.
  
  
  Trump is scheduled to attend a reception at the home of billionaire businessman William Koch and his wife, Bridget, in the gated community Saturday night.
  

  Gleason said he knew people who would be attending the fundraiser but said he was not aware, as of Thursday afternoon, of any pro-Trump demonstrations being planned for Saturday.
  

  

  
  

  
  
  Ticket prices for the event range from $2,700 for the general reception to $100,000 per couple for co-chair designation. A photo opportunity with the candidate is priced at $10,000. Trump is also scheduled to attend a similar fundraising event earlier in the day at the Nantucket home of Terri and Ron Weinberg.
  
  The host committee for the Oyster Harbors event includes Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe and conservative radio talk show host Howie Carr. Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown is listed as a special guest.
  
  O’Keefe and several other members of the committee did not return calls for comment Thursday.
  
  A representative of a Woburn-based fundraising firm coordinating the affair said Wednesday the event was closed to the media.
  
  Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald confirmed he has been contacted by the Boston office of the U.S. Secret Service about Trump’s visit but said he could not provide additional information.
  
  “The Secret Service has control of the operation,” MacDonald said.
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• A peaceful march and protest from the West Bay drawbridge in Osterville to the Oyster Harbors gatehouse is being planned to coincide with the time guests will be arriving for the event, according to Rosson.
  
  “We’re trying to make this as big as possible,” she said Thursday. “We want our voices to be heard.”
  
  Rosson stressed that the group was not trying to get arrested, stop the event, be confrontational or block traffic.
  
  “We’re trying to involve as many different groups as possible who have been disenfranchised by his bigotry,” she said. “It’s sad when people who ordinarily would vote Republican don’t feel they can because they can’t support Trump’s rhetoric.”
  
  
  Rosson’s son, Christian, 9, is half-Mexican and will also participate in the protest.
  
  
  “He came to me a few months ago and said to me, ‘Mommy, why does the man running for president hate Mexicans and want to build a wall?’” said Rosson. “This is supposedly a leader, someone you look up to and represents you, but he doesn’t represent my son when he expresses hatred for his heritage. That’s when it (the Trump campaign) got real to me. Up until then, I thought it was a joke.”
  
  
  Trump has called for a wall to be built along the U.S.-Mexico border since he announced his presidential campaign last year. He said in early February that the wall would probably cost $8 billion and has repeatedly said that Mexico, not the U.S., would pay for it.
  
  
  Todd Willoughby, 33, of Sandwich, who uses a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, is active in the fledgling group and will be at the protest.
  
  “I was astonished when he (Trump) mocked the disabled reporter,” said Willoughby, in reference to a November rally in South Carolina where the candidate appeared to mimic a New York Times reporter with a congenital joint condition.
  
  While the newly established anti-Trump Facebook group is gaining traction, a Facebook page called “Cape Cod for Trump 2016,” created last winter, has 2,143 “likes.”
  
  Rick Gleason, chairman of the Yarmouth Republican Town Committee, is administrator of the page.
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• — Follow Geoff Spillane on Twitter: @GSpillaneCCT.