A sit-in protest was held at Congressman Rick Allen’s Augusta office on Feb. 27, where over 100 members of the community came out to demand a town hall from the U.S. representative.
Several organizations were involved, including Indivisible CSRA, League of Women Voters of the CSRA, representatives from local county parties, Georgia Shift Action and CSRA Good Trouble Coalition.
Sit-in participants took turns throughout the morning and afternoon speaking to Allen’s staff members in groups of three.
Demanding a town hall, and more
Ellie Benson, a volunteer with Indivisible CSRA, said that she did her own research and couldn’t find any information on Allen holding a town hall, at any point, in the Augusta, Richmond County area.
Allen holds over-the-phone town hall meetings, but Benson said these are “not sufficient.”
Community gathered at the sit-in not only to seek out a town hall, but to share their other concerns.
These included issues with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a recently passed budget resolution that could bring cuts to Medicaid funding, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act which some say could bar voting accessibility, better care for veterans and the potential dismantlement of the Department of Education.
“It’s not just democrats, it’s not just independents, it’s Republicans, it’s people from every political affiliation in Augusta and beyond in the CSRA that are being affected by the decisions that they’re making in Washington right now,” said Benson.
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She added that she believes in power in numbers – the sit-in on Thursday morning brought in nearly 70 participants, a number that grew to over 100 before the end of the day.
“I do feel like it puts pressure on our representatives, and it’s good,” she said. “That’s part of the democratic process. It’s what we want.”
A young voter and sit-in participant, Lillie DeLecuona, said she feels that Congressman Allen hasn’t made efforts to converse with his constituents.
“Rick Allen has been the representative for Augusta for like, a super long time…all that time that I’ve been a voter, and all the time I’ve been aware of politics. And I have never seen him once, in my whole life,” she said.
She also said she’s been on his mailing list for years, keeping up with his activity.
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“He never seems to be doing anything,” she said.
For her, a sit-in asking for accountability made sense.
“It’d be good to actually get to talk to him,” she said.
DeLecuona said it’s important for her to stay politically active, because of her father who originally immigrated from Cuba.
“They have, like, a terrible fascist government,” she said about the Caribbean country. “I owe it to my family to be here today and to not let their sacrifice be in vain that they’ve done for me.”
Relaying messages to Rep. Allen
Daniel Rivera shared his experience in Congressman Allen’s office, where he and two other sit-in participants shared their concerns with District Director Brinsley Thigpen who took down notes to relay to Allen.
“She listened to everything we had to say, she took notes, and [if] we made a statement she didn’t understand, she asked a follow up question. So I think that it was very cordial,” he said. “And I don’t know how effective it’s gonna be. I don’t know if what I wrote down and gave to them is gonna go anywhere, but at least I did it, at least I did my part.”
A spokesperson from Congressman Allen’s staff stated via phone call that every message taken today by sit-in participants will be relayed to Congressman Allen as soon as all the notes are organized.
A time frame for when the messages will be relayed was not given, but a representative said: “we met with a number of constituents, so we will do so as soon as possible.”
