A small group of protesters gathered at Mill Creek Park in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday night to demand fair and complete counting of votes for the presidential election. The event was put on by Dream Fighters Coalition, KC Grassroots Network, Sunrise Movement KC, Our Revolution Kansas City, Kansas City Reale Womxn’s Rally, Reale Justice Network, KC Protest Support, and other local groups.

Although Kansas and Missouri are not among the states being sued over ballot counting, speakers at the event stressed the need for people to demonstrate that they are committed to all votes being counted.

“We’re already organized and mobilized,” said Bryan Boccard, one of the speakers at the event, adding later: “We’re ready to respond if (Trump) tries to interfere with the election.”

At the time of the protest, Joe Biden was only six electoral votes shy of winning the election. Speaker Jae Moyer read tweets from Donald Trump about the election and stressed the need to continue to push for fair counting.

“Make no mistake, Donald Trump will try to steal this election out from under us,” they said. “We must continue to stand here for our rights as Americans.”

Ky Williams, an organizer with White Rose KC, spoke not only of the need to remove Trump from office but also of the need to hold the president accountable—regardless of who it is.

“I’m glad Biden won. This work is not done,” she said. “We have to make sure that during this presidency, we hold Biden accountable for every goddamn thing.”

Ashley Johnson, an organizer with Reale Justice Network, spoke of the need for community and collective work. “It takes a community to make the world go around,” she said. “We’re here to protect democracy. We’re here to protect our neighbors.”

“When one person falls, we all fall,” added Elijah X, one of the speakers at the event.

“It’ll take much more than voting out,” Johnson commented later, discussing the need for continued multigenerational, antiracist advocacy and activism within Kansas City. “We’re all a collective. That’s what people don’t understand.”

Organizers indicated that any future events like this one would be shared by White Rose KC.