Thread by @asanderford

Back on the protest beat today, this time outside of @CJSenate2020’s bakery, @CupcakeOmaha in Dundee.

A handful of people are starting to gather outside the shop, including Mechelle Sky Walker of Lincoln, 36.

She said the @NebraskaDems don’t need their own Trump, that Janicek should leave the race after behaving as he has with staff and others.

Sky Walker said: “I want him to drop out. He can’t use the excuse that he’s gay to talk like that. He’s using white privilege.”

A little more crowded now. Some folks who were finishing signs in a nearby parking lot walked up.

Talked a bit ago to one of the first protesters here, Deb Manning of Omaha, 54. She said she is taking a stand against sexual harassment. She said Janicek needs to quit Nebraska’s Senate race before he irreparably damages his businesses.

Manning said: “The fact is money talks. Had he withdrawn from the race when he was quietly asked he could have avoided this. But he has chosen to stay. So people need to know what he’s done if they patronize his business. He is not a person held in high regard in this community.”

Here’s a group photo of them organizers asked them to gather to take.

The candidate who finished second in the Democrat’s’ May 12 primary is here, Angie Philips. She had called for protests and boycotts of his business. She said she’s here for sex assault survivors and victims of harassment.

Philips, shown here holding a fellow protester’s dog, Clark, said Janicek has lost the moral authority to lead. She said he cannot represent people he does not speak to, that Nebraska already has that in @BenSasse. She supports @Shelton4Senate replacing Janicek once he quits.

Philips said: “This, not Chris, is what the Democratic Party stands for, justice and equality. This is the heart of the Democratic Party. And Chris is holding the party hostage.”

The protest has now spread to four corners of 50th and Dodge Streets.

Crowd thinning out a little over the lunch hour. Talk of more coming.

Just overheard a small group of people defending Janicek. One of them was Steve Gunther, 50, of Omaha, who said he came down to show his support by buying cupcakes but the shop was closed a while during the protests.

Gunther said Janicek is much more than the characature people have seen over the past week. He said he raises money for the Nebraska AIDS project and gives away day-old cupcakes to a local women’s shelter rather than waste them.

Said Gunther: “I know Chris. I would have no problem with my daughter working for him. It was a really bad joke that hurt someone and he apologized. If we want to get stuff done, we have to get to the point where we can forgive someone and move on.”

In front of @CupcakeOmaha, Scott Williams, 38, held a sign calling on Janicek to step down.

“I’m disappointed in Chris Janicek’s decision to not already do the right thing. Apparently he needs further encouragement.”

Said Williams: “I’m proud to be a member of the Nebraska Democratic Party because we have policies meant to prevent sexual harassment. And the party is making clear right now that they will not support someone who breaks that policy.”

I’m going to take a little break to write an onliner from the protest. Thanks for following along. I’ll pick it back up if they’re still here when I’m done.

Things wrapped up before I was done. Thanks for following along. Story will post soon @OWHnews.

Here's the @OWHnews story from the protests outside of @CJSenate2020's @CupcakeOmaha business today in #Omaha. With photos from @annaereed:

omaha.com/news/local/pro…

One last update: A handful of protesters returned to 50th and Dodge around evening rush hour. One of them confronted Janicek in his shop, which had reopened. He closed @CupcakeOmaha for the day shortly after, I verified with protesters and @CJSenate2020.

Janicek says he talked to the protester, who writes for @SeeingRedNE.