At around 3 p.m.Monday, activists gathered near a busy Tampa intersection to urge U.S. Senator from Florida Marco Rubio to block President-Elect Donald Trump's appointment of Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson to the position of Secretary of State, the country's top diplomatic role.

Tillerson is a climate denier, they said, with dubious ties to Russia who would likely favor cronyism over protecting human rights or the planet. His confirmation hearing is Wednesday.

Rubio was, of course, nowhere in sight Monday afternoon—it's unclear whether he's ever even visited his Tampa satellite office on West Kennedy Boulevard across from Westshore Mall. But the activists hoped to bring a stack of letters addressed to the senator upstairs to staffers in his office, letters that urge him to use his powerful committee position to block a controversial nominee over whom the Senator himself has expressed concern.

"Senator Rubio is a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and will have a decisive role to play in determining whether Mr. Tillerson's role advances. So we want to have targeted, focused advocacy in a way that maximizes our leverage,” said political scientist Michael Broache, who is launching a local branch of the Indivisible movement.

It's unclear whether Rubio will act on his skepticism or bow to pressure from the likes of Dick Cheney to confirm Tillerson.

Rubio, who easily fended off a challenge to his reelection bid in November despite a shellacking turn in the GOP presidential primary courtesy of one Donald J. Trump, met with Tillerson Monday evening, though afterward he did not signal how he was likely to vote.

One after another, the Tampa protesters railed against Tillerson, at times to breaking into the chant "reject Rex" in unison as they lined the sidewalk.

One speaker said Tillerson's ignoring of climate science — and profiting off of said ignoring of science — will have dire impacts on future generations, and should thus be considered criminal.

“I tell you this: Rex Tillerson should not be appearing before a Senate committee to decide his confirmation as Secretary of State," said activist Kent Bailey. "He should be before the Hague, defending himself against charges of crimes against humanity and crimes against the planet...He should not be going to the White House. He should be going to the big house.”

Mocking Trump supporters' favorite anti-Hillary Clinton refrain "lock her up," the protesters began shouting "lock him up! Lock him up!"

Vivian Oliva, who came to Florida from Cuba in 1961 at age 13, said she hoped to appeal to Rubio as a fellow Cuban. She said she can't believe Rubio isn't vocally opposing Trump, given the president-elect's apparent admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I left a country that was overrun by Russians and dictated by Russians, and I don't want to die, after 56 years, in a country that is run by Russians," she said. “So I hope he reads my letter.”