Provocative Protest at Post Office Spark Emotions

The young pair under the large umbrella on a hot and steamy Thursday afternoon were engaging residents heading into and out of the post office on Concord Avenue.

"Obama could be gone before you know it," said the young African-American man to a few residents who stopped by and looked at fliers with headlines proclaiming "Drum-Beats Over Libya." 

But what startled most people doing business at the post office was a poster on the table that showed President Obama with a tight, short mustache resembling that worn by Adolph Hitler.

"Why do you have that?" asked one woman looking at the poster, not staying long enough for the answer. 

"Disrespectful," she murmured as she entered the post office.

While this sort of provocative protest is most likely seen in Boston Common or Harvard Square, the pair – a young woman with a slight, pleasant accent and the equally-young African-American who would not give their names – came to inform people of their cause. 

"We came here because there are human beings here," said the woman. 

The young woman said they hoped to inform Belmont residents of the "undebatable fact that Obama is conducting an illegal war in Libya" and that unless "the people have the guts to end this with (Obama's impeachment)" then "what's to stop a dictatorship" from happening. 

Their presence brought a Belmont police car to see what was happening and relative scorn or silent indifference by most who passed by. One woman took cell phone photos of the pair which prompted the young woman to take her own photos of the woman. 

Call for impeachment finds acceptance

While the majority who came across the pair were unsupportive of their calls for removing the president, reenacting the Glass-Steagall Law or that President Obama is a puppet of the British monarchy's attempt to impose a US fascist dictatorship, a few residents were receptive to the calls for Obama's impeachment.

"Yes. Let's see this happen sooner than later," one older man said happily before crossing Concord Avenue to his car.

When asked why she supported the general call from a fringe group, a woman who would not give her name or be photographed said that what the pair was calling for "sounds OK with me." 

But to David Goldman, the scene in front of the Post Office was both disturbing and depressing. 

"I never seen anything like this in Belmont before. Maybe that is why they are here," said the Belmont resident and one of only two people who would give their name.

Goldman said he thought about engaging the young man in a discussion "but we would only be talking over each other." 

What Goldman found most striking about the entire presentation was the Obama poster.

"It's Hitler, that's what they're saying. That Obama is worse than Hitler. How can he, as an African-American say that?" said Goldman as he continued his walk to Belmont Center.

When asked to comment on Goldman's comment, the young man shrugged.

"If people want to be racists, that's up to them."