VERO BEACH — In response to deadly violence at a recent white nationalist rally in Virginia, local community members will have a love rally to defend American values of respect and inclusion for all.
The “Indian River Standing On The Side Of Love” rally will take place noon Wednesday at the Indian River County Courthouse, 2000 16th Ave., Vero Beach, according to community members. Community group Compassion Vero will host the event and several leaders will speak for an inclusive, diverse and peaceful society.
“The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, are completely unethical and morally unacceptable,” said rally organizer and Compassion Vero member Reverend Scott Alexander. “It’s important people stand up against evil expression of anti-Americanism. We can’t let white supremacists have a say in American life.”
Alexander, reverend of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Vero Beach, said security will be provided at the rally by the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and Vero Beach Police Department.
White nationalists and counter protesters fought over the weekend over the removal of a Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to media reports. On Saturday, counter protester Heather Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville, was killed after a car crashed into a crowd of peaceful protesters leaving a “Unite the Right” rally that officials declared was an “unlawful assembly.”
The planned rally already was shut down from fights between alt-right demonstrators, counter protesters, white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Black Lives Matter supporters, media reports said.
The car driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, was charged with second degree murder, three counts of malicious wrongdoing and failure to stop in an accident that resulted in death, media reports said.
Those who want more information on the rally should call Alexander at 772-359-0602.
