One of the organizers of Saturday’s No Kings Rally in Ann Arbor says it was a miscommunication that kept politicians other than County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi from speaking at the event.
Elected officials, including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, say they were refused the opportunity to speak to the large crowd. They say they were told no politicians would be participating, but Rabhi spoke last and launched the march.
Ann Arbor Indivisible’s Gus Teschke says the plan was to only have three people speak ahead of the march, so it could start on time.
“We were really trying hard to limit it to 30 minutes because, at our previous event there, we had it go really long, and we were determined not to do that again.”
Teschke admits they should have a stronger policy on who should be granted speaking time. He says Dingell and other officials have spoken at previous Ann Arbor Indivisible events and will so in the future.
The group has officially endorsed Rabhi in the Ann Arbor Mayoral Democratic Primary.
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