Chicago Area Rallies To 'Save The Post Office From Trump'

CHICAGO — People from all walks of life who are determined to defend the essential services provided by the United States Postal Service — including the ability to vote by mail — will be staging grassroots actions at local post offices across the country at 11 a.m. local time Saturday, Aug. 22. In recent weeks, delays in mail service have been reported across the country.

Groups including Indivisible, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, MoveOn, NAACP, RuralOrganizing.org, SEIU and the Working Families Party will organize their members to participate in #SaveThePostOfficeSaturday actions and “push back on the Trump administration’s attacks” against the postal service.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor and Trump ally who took over the postal service in June, announced that he was suspending the policies causing service days locally and nationally, so he could avoid "even the appearance of any impact on election mail."

Those joining the peaceful, non-violent protests will call on DeJoy to resign in the wake of mail slowdowns, and will call on Congress to “protect and save the post office from Donald Trump” and act to safeguard the integrity of our mail and elections, according to the news release.

“The actions will show Americans coming together to stand up for a postal system that connects us, that we rely on for medications, paychecks, and more, and that will literally be counted on to deliver democracy in the elections this fall,” organizers said.

To promote safety given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all actions will take place outdoors and have physical distancing plans, and event hosts and attendees will be required to wear masks. Organizers have asked that gatherings not exceed 50 people.

Those wishing to sign up to attend or host an action can do so at savethepostoffice and event planners will be using the hashtag #savethepostoffice.

So far, thousands of people have already pledged to participate in the 24 hours since that tweet was posted, and #USPSprotests was a trending hashtag on Twitter over the weekend. Nine events and counting are planned for Saturday in the Chicago metro area, including:

South Wheaton
Naperville and Butterfield Road intersection
Naperville Post Office
5 S Washington St Ste 105
Des Plaines Post Office
1000 Oakton St.

Evanston Post Office
1101 S. Davis St.

Mt. Prospect Post Office
300 Central Road

Arlington Heights Post Office
909 W. Euclid Ave.

Buffalo Grove Post Office
255 N. Buffalo Grove Road
(Buffalo Grove Road and Old Checker)

Sugar Grove Post Office
92 Frontage Road

Crystal Lake Post Office
301 Congress Parkway

Those wishing to sign up to attend or host an action can do so at savethepostoffice.net and event planners will use the hashtag #savethepostoffice.