DENVER – A rally to denounce racism, hatred and white supremacy was held in Denver Sunday afternoon, a day after a woman was killed and more than a dozen people were injured during a white supremacist rally In Charlottesville, Va.
The rally in Denver’s City Park also sought to show solidarity with “everyone resisting oppression everywhere,” according to the event’s Facebook page.
Protesters gathered at the MLK statue at City Park by East High School and will walk to the Colorado State Capitol.
Dr. Timothy E. Tyler, a pastor for Historical Shorter Community African Methodist Episcopal Church, will be speaking about the event.
After the rally was over, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock released a statement in support of the nationwide demonstrations, praising Denver and Colorado for standing "on the right side of history and state irrevocably that we will never accept this resurgence of intolerance, hate and now violence in our community, or any community, in this great nation."
"While some seek to poison our national discourse and pit neighbor against neighbor, Denver will remain on the side of righteousness and the belief that there is unbound strength in the diversity and pluralism underpinning our American exceptionalism. And we will continue to stand steadfast and united against those that seek to divide us."
Hancock also called out the president for not calling out white supremacists after the Unite the Right rally turned violent.
"I – and all decent Americans – have one demand of the President: plainly and without qualification condemn and disavow these actions of bigotry, white supremacy and domestic terrorism once and for all as anathema to the very core of our American ideals," Hancock said. "And cast these fringe fanatics back to the fringes where they belong.”
A similar rally took place in the City of Lafayette Sunday, according to the Boulder Daily Camera.
Colorado politicians call out Trump for not singling out white supremacists
On Saturday, local politicians from across the aisle were quick to condemn the violence in Charlottesville, and called out President Donald Trump for not singling out white supremacists, a move which stood in stark contrast by his insistence of calling out “radical Islamic terrorism” by name during the 2016 campaign.
Among them was Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, who reprimanded President Donald Trump and urged him to “call evil by its name.”
Gardner’s tweet came after President Trump blamed “many sides” for the violence in the Virginia college town.
But Gardner wasn’t the only one to call out the president for not singling out white supremacists for the Unite the Right rally, which brought together Neo-Nazis and others in the alt-Right movement to downtown Charlottesville.
“Today’s attack is not the results of ‘many sides’ – it’s an act of domestic terrorism. @POTUS should explicitly denounce white supremacy,” said Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, reacting to Trump’s remarks about the violence in Virginia.
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman said he was heartbroken to hear about the deadly violence, and also called the events a “domestic terror attack.”
“Evil, no matter its face, must be condemned,” he tweeted.
Congressman Jared Polis, who is running for the Colorado governorship in 2018, said voices of counter-protesters “were silenced by an extreme act of violence.”
Meanwhile, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper denounced the violence and said hatred had no place in society. “Now is a time to come together,” he said.
“My heart wrenches for VA & I pray for the safety of all in #Charlottesville during these horrific turn of events,” said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. “For the future of our country, leaders & community members must denounce these hate fueled acts.”
U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Rep. Diana DeGette and Rep. Scott Tipton also condemned the violence in Virginia.
You can watch our coverage of the protest as it happened in the video below:
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Colorado politicians condemn Charlottesville violence