A rally and community discussion is planned for this evening to rally against the presence of white supremacist messages being spread in the community, most recently in a nighttime demonstration where participants held up a sign exclaiming, “Keep CT White.”
The rally appears in a Facebook post by Melina Floyd-Torres. The post includes an announcement with a poster, entitled “Black Lives Still Matter, Bristol,” featuring an empty chair. Alongside the chair, there is the following advice, “Bring your listening ears, water and dress comfortably.” In small print between the chair’s back and seat, the poster states, “Please do not actually bring a folding chair or any aggressive energy.”
Floyd-Torres led peaceful marches and awareness campaigns in Bristol, as part of Black Lives Matter in 2020. In the Bristol march, both city and police officials, including officers, marched alongside participants. As part of the march, people were invited to speak about their experiences, a request which many people answered.
In addition to the time and place of the rally and discussion, the poster announcing tonight’s rally includes the following: “We will fight ignorance with education and hate with love! Let’s peacefully come together as we did before and show Bristol that white supremacy is no longer tolerated here.”
The latest demonstration of white supremacists in Bristol follows a string of posters being nailed high up on telephones poles in different areas around the city, mostly along Farmington Avenue. Last summer, white supremacist leaflets were dropped in neighborhoods in the city’s northeast section.
As a response to the leaflets and the tepid response from city officials, a group called the Bristol Anti-Racist Brigade was created and confronted city council members and the mayor in several heated exchanges during council meetings.
In response to the latest incident, the Bristol Police Department issued a statement saying that the incident is being investigated and that the department is “withholding the group’s name and media platform so as to not propagate their message or give them notoriety.”
In addition, the police statement says that the “Bristol Police Department continues to stand with all members of our community and always condemns groups of hate in the strongest possible way.”
The statement concludes with an appeal for anyone who has information about the incident to contact Detective Ward at (860)584-3039, anonymously at (860)585-TIPS (8477) or via email at BPDCrimeWatch@bristolct.gov.
Tonight’s rally and discussion is scheduled for 6 p.m. on the spot of the white supremacist demonstration on the Corner of Todd Street and Rt. 72 near the Todd Street Park and Ride lot.
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