Protesters gather at Capitol, call for change

Posted: 8:33 AM, Jan 20, 2016
Updated: 2016-01-20 08:33:58-05

As Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder addressed a packed House floor, almost a thousand protesters were chanting just outside.

The lights threw their shadows in huge relief on the side of the Capitol building, in a way, reminiscent of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." Only in this case, when the people watching the shadows were told the truth, it wasn't the person telling them that they attacked.

(If you're not up on your Ancient Greek literature - the "Allegory of the Cave" is a story about people living their entire lives watching shadows play on the wall of a cave. One man escapes, sees the real world, and tries to return to the cave to bring the others out. They attack and kill him.)

Protesters at the Capitol weren't quite that drastic, but many were calling for Snyder's resignation.

"I do think it's time for Governor Snyder to step down. I think he's proven that he's just not capable of doing the job for the citizens of Michigan," protester Susan Hier.

Many of the people holding signs and chanting say they want more transparency.

"We want him to own up to what he did. He knew about this. I've been hearing about this for two years. He knew," said Flint resident Ray Tyler, who organized a bus from Flint to the Capital for people who wanted to be part of the rally but couldn't drive.

"We need our voices to be heard. We appreciate all the water that everyone's giving and all that, but we need our voices to be heard," Tyler said. "These pipes gotta be changed because the water's going to run out, the giving's going to run out, things have to change."

Keri Webber says she came to the rally because the issue hits home, literally.

"They lied to us for so long, and they kept telling us the water's fine, the water's fine," she said. "And unfortunately, because of our income, we couldn't afford to buy bottled water, and we drank it."

The hundreds of people who showed up to support Flint and its people mean a lot.

"To see this many people standing to support a city that it's obvious our state doesn't care about, man this hits hard."