Protestors hijack rally at Windsor Town Green
Jun. 12—WINDSOR — Protesters chanting "Who hung the noose?" and "Where is Lamont?" hijacked a planned peaceful rally Friday organized by town officials to stand against racism after eight nooses have been found hanging at an Amazon construction site since April in that town.
Clad in Black Lives Matter and PowerUp CT apparel, protesters waving signs that read "UR Silence Will Not Protect U" and "Who Hung the Nooses @ Amazon?!" interrupted the ceremony on the Windsor Town Green halfway through the ceremony that included several state and local leaders.
RALLY CHAOS
WHAT: Black Lives Matter and PowerUp protestors hijacked a peaceful rally Friday on the Windsor Town Green.
WHY: Protestors expressed frustration that not enough is being done to find who is leaving nooses at a Windsor Amazon construction site.
WHO WAS THERE: Several state and local leaders including Mayor Donald Trinks, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Bloomfield.
Among the speakers were Mayor Donald Trinks, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Senator Doug McCrory, D-Bloomfield, and State Reps. Jane Garibay D-Windsor, and Bobby Gibson D-Bloomfield, State Commissioner of Asian Island Pacific Alan Tan and Commissioner of African American Affairs Alphonse Wright.
Protestors stole the attention from the stage on the Town Hall portico just as State Commissioner of Latin and Puerto Rican Affairs, Leticia Colon de Mejias, announced that State Troubadour Nekita Waller would sing a song to "lift everyone's spirits."
In an effort to unite those who gathered, Waller began to sing the classic protest song by Marvin Gaye, "What's Going On?" and many attendees clapped along. However, the music did not subdue the protestors' chants.
"We put a lot of effort into standing together against racism and discrimination and the goal of this is unity — not a display," Colon de Mejias said taking over the microphone.
"I'm not sure what you think you're doing, but you're not solving any problems at this moment," she added.
PowerUp CT founder Keren Prescott heatedly asked Trinks why he never returned communications from the group about the nooses.
Visibly angry, Trinks pointed and shouted back at the protestors and could be heard asking "Did you call me?"
The Rev. Cornell Lewis of Hartford said the group had been protesting the Amazon site for about two weeks as a result of the nooses being hung.
"Nobody seemed to want to talk ... We were supposed to talk with the mayor and he never got back to us and he never called," he said, adding he later learned there was some type of a misunderstanding.
About 50 people, some with children, attended the rally that started at 5:30 p.m. and was scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m.
Some of the protestors shouted at white people who left the rally towards the end, calling them racists Prior to the protestors' arrival, Community Organizer Olivia Mitchell said she was invited to speak about how love can beat hate.
"There's a lot of love in the world but yet there's still so much hate. I want to quickly speak to you about the idea that love can beat hate, but love cannot beat ignorance, that — only education can do that."
Mitchell said when news broke of the nooses being hung at Amazon, there was immediate outrage from most, but others had questions, such as why does a noose have to mean racism or there's no direct message that says this is about black people.
"That is ignorance. Ignorance speaks to a lack of education and from my personal experience a lack of empathy," Mitchell said.
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