SPOKANE, Wash. -- Dozens of people gathered outside the Spokane County Courthouse Thursday night in a rally against white nationalism.
The rally came a day after the chair of the Spokane County Republican party abruptly resigned amid backlash for hosting James Allsup at a recent event. Allsup is the former head of the College Republicans at WSU who resigned last year after attending the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
You could hear the chanting down the street. Voices of those seeking change.
“It's always important that we as a community come together and make it known where we stand on these issues," said Devon Wilson, Criminal Justice Chair of the NAACP.
Wilson had a clear message to give the people gathered at the steps of the Spokane County Courthouse.
"White supremacy, bigotry, racism, misogyny is not acceptable in our society," he said.
Thursday’s rally was in response to the now former chair of the Spokane County GOP's decision to host Allsup at a recent meeting. A video of that meeting surfaced earlier this week. The decision to host Allsup was met with strong opposition and Cecily Wright apologized for giving him a platform and abruptly resigned.
"It's not a partisan issue, racism and bigotry doesn't have a place in any political party," said Interim Spokane County GOP Chair Isaiah Paine.
In light of Wright's resignation, Isaiah Pain is now the acting chair of the Spokane County GOP. He said it was important for him and other republicans to attend Thursday's rally - to denounce racism and bigotry in all forms.
"We wanted to be a part of moving forward as a community to build a better community together and we can only do that if we work together," he said. "We do agree that racism has no place and that's what we wanted to show here tonight.”
Several community organizations were represented at the rally including the Spokane Community Against Racism, NAACP Spokane Chapter, Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, the City of Spokane Human Rights Commission, Spokane NOW, Families Against Bigotry and others.
Organizers called for the Spokane County Republican party to distance itself from people who associate with white supremacists groups. They also are asking for Spokane Valley Mayor Rod Higgins and Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase to be held accountable for their reported participation in the Allsup event.
