KINGSTON – Over 400 activists lined both sides of Broadway, at a candlelight vigil against racism, held in Midtown Kingston Monday evening.
The event was called by Citizen Action of the Hudson Valley, outside their headquarters on the corner of Grand Street, in response to a fatal hit-and-run car crash, which plowed down political counter-protesters in Charlottesville, on Saturday.
Part of the hundreds who lined Broadway Monday evening
Heather Heyer, 32, a paralegal, died Saturday crossing the street, counter-protesting a right-wing rally staged at the University of Virginia campus, in opposition to the removal of a statue honoring Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
A vengeful motorist, with a history of white supremacy views allegedly ran Heyer over, killing her, and injuring 19 others in the assault. Ohio resident James Alex Fields Jr., 20, was charged with second degree murder in the incident. Two Virginia state troopers also perished in a helicopter crash.
Monday’s vigil marked a nationwide wave of public solidarity with the victims, their supporters, and conquering hatred with love. It also underscored the great divide between Left- and Right-wing Americans, including racial and social justice issues.
“What happened in Charlottesville is terrifying,” Citizen Action of the Hudson Valley lead organizer Callie Jayne told the crowd. “This has been happening for a very long time. We have had far too many vigils in this same spot, about black men that have been murdered, or the murder of Democracy after November 9th.”
Moral outrage over Saturday’s deaths prompted calls on President Donald Trump to emphatically denounce hate groups. “Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs,” Trump said Monday, two days after the incident.
Trump opponents, like Jayne were unconvinced.
“There are people in power that are acting this way daily,” Jayne said. “Donald Trump made it so that the KKK no longer needs to wear their hoods. They know they can be out here shouting to kill people, and go back to work on Monday. We can’t let that happen.”
“We have a long bloody history in this country,” said Sally Bermanzohn, a survivor of the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, where five people perished in a KKK assault similar to Charlottesville. Her husband got shot in the head and partially paralyzed.
Other rally participants included O’Dell Winfield, of End the Jim
Crow Action Network, Ulster County Executive Michael Hein, and Congressional
candidates Gareth Rhodes, Jeffrey Beals and Pat Ryan.
