A group of approximately seven individuals from the Kansas-based Justice Initiative Youth Council spoke in protest in front of newly sworn in U.S. Senator Roger Marshall’s former Great Bend residence Tuesday afternoon. The group was protesting Marshall’s support of efforts to block congressional certification of the presidential election, as well as the opposition of Marshall and other Kansas Republican representatives in Washington to limit the amount of COVID-19 economic stimulus payments. Both items the group felt unfairly targeted poorer Americans and undermined the will of the American people. A small group of local supporters of Marshall and President Donald Trump were also at the location, countering the JIYC demonstration. During speeches by the JIYC, the two groups often exchanged words, and occasionally obscenities, during the roughly 45-minute protest. Great Bend Police Department officers arrived toward the end of the demonstration; however, both groups dispersed peacefully.
