Five tax day marches are scheduled across the Bay Area Saturday in protest of President Donald Trump refusing to release his tax returns.
Marchers will gather in the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek and Santa Cruz.
“Every president since FDR has released his taxes,” said Valerie Cohn Ormeno, co-organizer of Tax March San Jose. “We’re concerned that he is not only hiding his taxes but his financial ties, collusion, conflicts of interests, and evades paying his fair share given his massive fortune. That’s really the bottom line.”
Sixty percent of Americans believe Trump has a responsibility to release his tax records, according to a January Pew Research Center poll.
The White House confirmed in March that Trump paid $38 million in federal income tax on more than $150 million in income for 2005.
Trump has repeatedly said an Internal Revenue Service audit prevents him from releasing his records. The IRS has released a statement declaring an audit would not preclude anyone from releasing their own tax information.
Local marches will coincide with the Tax March on Washington the same day. Thousands are expected to attend the Washington D.C. march.
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South Bay resident Cohn Ormeno decided to organize a San Jose march when she realized one had yet to be organized in the area. Dissatisfied with who she calls an “arrogant, misogynistic, and incoherent” president, Cohn Ormeno wanted a space for herself and others to be an active resistance against the federal administration.
“I’m just an average Joe,” Ormeno said. “Before I was opinionated. Now I’m political.”
Dozens from the political group South Bay Indivisible will attend marches in both Palo Alto and San Francisco.
“For us as a group, Donald Trump’s refusal to disclose his tax returns is extremely troubling,” said Lisa Ferino, co-director of Indivisible South Bay. “He’s probably covering up something and we want to know what that is.”
Visit Taxmarch.org for more information about local marches.
