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SALT LAKE CITY — With a backdrop of a 10-foot inflatable white chicken coiffed with a metallic orange hairdo and wings making familiar hand gestures of the current commander in chief, hundreds of Utah voters gathered Saturday at the Salt Lake City-County Building to urge President Donald Trump to stop being "chicken" and release his income tax returns.
In recognition of Tax Day, demonstrators walked a 1,040-step loop from Washington Square to the IRS building and back to protest the president's refusal to disclose his income tax returns. Along the way, participants mailed letters to the president, demanding financial transparency and ethical divestitures in keeping with the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
"It's pretty abhorrent that he's decided not to share this information that is critical to understand what's going on with his finances and whether or not it's going to influence how he acts as president," said Salt Lake City resident Stephen Trapp. "I'd like to see his tax returns (to find out) if he is actually profiting and if there is a conflict of interest. If there is, that needs to be dealt with."
Trapp said Trump's unwillingness to disclose his taxes calls into question his credibility and trustworthiness to the American people. He said Congress should consider legislation to require presidential candidates to do so.
Greg Geilmann, of Salt Lake City, carried a red, white and blue flag with Trump's name emblazoned on it and spoke into a megaphone, saying he was protesting "a very frightening situation in our country" where the president has been less than forthcoming about his financial circumstances.
"He has no transparency. He won't release his taxes," Geilmann said. "Until we know what his financial entanglements are throughout the world with all of the Trump brand corporations, we're not going to know how his (interests) are affecting decisions made in the White House."
He also voiced concerns about Trump's credibility and integrity given his perceived lack of transparency thus far. If the president does not release his 2016 taxes, Geilmann said Congress should intervene and put pressure on him to disclose his full tax return.
Thousands of chanting, sign-carrying protesters took to the streets in cities across the U.S. as part of a nationwide demonstration.
Ilene Singh, 71, rode a bus from New Jersey to New York City with her friend Geraldine Markowitz, 83, to take part in protests.
"We're here to say we care," Singh said, countering Trump's contention that Americans don't care about his tax returns.
Pushing her walker, Karin Arlin, 85, a Holocaust survivor who came to the U.S. from Germany when she was 9, said she's also worried about the direction of the country.
"You don't know which way the country goes," Arlin said, standing next to her 89-year-old husband who fled Czechoslovakia during World War II. "I hope Republicans see it."
Although Tax Day demonstrations were peaceful, at least four people were arrested Saturday in Berkeley, California, after clashes between Trump opponents and supporters holding unrelated rallies in a downtown park. After Trump supporters said they would hold a "Patriot Day" rally, counter-protesters decided to hold a rally at the same place.
He has no transparency. He won't release his taxes. Until we know what his financial entanglements are throughout the world with all of the Trump brand corporations, we're not going to know how his (interests) are affecting decisions made in the White House.
–Greg Geilmann, Salt Lake City resident
Actress and producer Justine Bateman, who addressed several thousand people at a rally in downtown Los Angeles, said Americans need "financial statement proof" that Trump is not beholden to any business interests or country other than the U.S.
In Washington, D.C., one of Trump's sharpest critics in the House spoke to protesters at the U.S. Capitol just before they set off on a march to the National Mall. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said there's nothing to prevent Trump from releasing his income taxes and that "the simple truth is he's got a lot to hide."
"If he thinks he can get away with playing king, he's got another thought coming," Waters said.
Protesters in Raleigh, North Carolina, said they suspect that Trump's returns might show he has paid little or nothing to the government he now heads, or that he's indebted to Russian, Chinese or other foreign interests.
"His reputation … as a businessman and more importantly as a true American, a person who is concerned with American values, would be totally destroyed if all his financial information was made public," said Mike Mannshardt, a retired teacher.
Many demonstrators said they hoped Saturday's marches would convince Trump to voluntarily release them.
"We do care. We want to see his taxes," said Ann Demerlis, who was among hundreds who marched in Philadelphia from City Hall to an area in front of historic Independence Hall, carrying signs and chanting, "We want your taxes now!"
Organizers of the Tax Day march in Salt Lake City say the public needs to know if the president is personally profiting from policies he is proposing, and if he has contributed his fair share of taxes.
“The reality is President Trump is the first president or major-party presidential candidate in four decades to refuse to release his tax returns to the public,” organizer Stacy Hughes said. “We march to bring awareness. We march to show that all over the country, Americans still care about transparency. We demand that the president release his returns as he has repeatedly promised but failed to do.”
Hughes echoed the sentiments of many in the large crowd for Congress to enact legislation requiring Trump and future presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns.
“We believe in an open government, one that functions in an accountable and ethical manner in order for the public to have faith in our elected officials," she said. "We need transparency and strong safeguards against corruption to ensure that the president, administration officials and Congress are free from wrongdoing and conflicts of interest.”
Without transparency, Hughes said, there will always be a question of whether Trump is acting in the best interests of the people who elected him.
"If you have nothing to hide, then why are you hiding?" she queried rhetorically. "So long as he doesn't release his taxes, people who don't support him will always have that stain of incredulity, asking, 'Are you doing this for America, or are you doing this for yourself?'"
In response to Trump's assertions that his taxes are of little concern to most people, Hughes was adamant.
"If (President Trump) was under the misperception that America doesn't care about his taxes as he's previously said, 200 marches across the world should make it clear that we do care. Now it's up to him," she said.
Tuesday is the deadline for taxpayers to file returns.
Contributing: Associated Press
