Protect Mueller Protest Planned At City Hall Thursday

PHILADELPHIA – Protesters advocating for the protection of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller in the wake of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' departure are planning an event Thursday evening at Philadelphia City Hall's Thomas Paine Plaza.

The protest starts at 5 p.m. in Thomas Paine Plaza, located at 1401 John F. Kennedy Boulevad, according to an online event page.

"Trump will create a constitutional crisis if he fires special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller, or attempts to compromise the investigation by other means: such as the replacement of Jeff Sessions as occurred on 11/7," the event description reads.

Similar events are planned in Media, West Chester, Norristown, Doylestown, and many other cities in Pennsylvania and across the nation.

The protest comes a day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he is leaving the administration at the request of President Donald Trump.

Sessions, a Trump ally who threw his weight behind the president in the 2016 election, recused himself in March 2017 from the probe investigating Russian interference in the presidential election and possible collusion by members of the Trump campaign.

Sessions' deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, appointed Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller to oversee the probe in May 2017 after Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon