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No White Supremacy in Spokane County Rally
August 2, 2018 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Spokane County Republican Leaders Host White Nationalist James Allsup
Local Organizations Demand Action, Announce Thursday Rally
#NoWhiteSupremacySpokaneCounty
An online video shows key GOP leaders in Spokane County hosting hate group organizer James Allsup at a July event. Allsup is a prominent member of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa and participated in the deadly August 2017 Charlottesville, VA hate rally.
In June, Spokane County GOP Chairwoman Cecily Wright denied any affiliation with Allsup and stated that his “past statements, affiliations and actions are deeply out-of-step with the values of the Republican Party, as well as the values of the Spokane County GOP and our members.” However, the July 11th video shows Wright hosting — and praising — Allsup at a Northwest Grassroots gathering of conservative activists. City of Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins and Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase also participated in the event, as documented in this longer video (archived here).
“We cannot take for granted the integrity of our public officials when they denounce white nationalism in the press, while privately endorsing their leaders and values. We can’t reasonably assume public officials will uphold our rights when they applaud those who would harm us,” said Pastor Walter Kendricks, spokesman and co-founder of Spokane Community Against Racism.
“Our Spokane region has a strong track record of standing up against white nationalism. Together, we’ve defeated the Aryan Nations; we’ve defeated anti-immigrant, anti-gay, and anti-trans policies; and we’re committed to standing shoulder-to-shoulder with targeted communities to defeat this harmful ideology any time it tries to gain a foothold.” said Liz Moore, director of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane.
Local organizations are holding a rally to unite the Spokane community against white nationalism on Thursday at 5:30pm in front of the Spokane County Courthouse.
Organizations uniting to respond are: Spokane Community Against Racism, Spokane Coalition of Color, Spokane Asian-Pacific Islander Coalition – API, Center for Justice, NAACP Spokane, Hispanic Business Professionals Spokane, Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience, Tenants Union of Washington, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, the City of Spokane Human Rights Commission, Spokane NOW, Families Against Bigotry, Raiz of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, OutSpokane, Spokane Democratic Socialists of America, Socialist Alternative Spokane, Spokane County Human Rights Task Force, Spokane County United Way, Fuse Washington, Western States Center, Spokane Veterans for Peace, Greater Spokane Progress, Raiz of Planned Parenthood, Women+s March on Washington – Washington State, Spokane Rising Tide, Northwest Fair Housing Alliance
Please message PJALS to add your group!
BACKGROUND ON ALLSUP AND KEY INFO FROM VIDEO HERE:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vEczsQMIBik0YwAheBTrjNyFb47TSLe9a-HJMigsUsw/edit?usp=sharing