Marchers say hate not tolerated in Spokane

About 30 people walked in Riverfront Park, through the River Park Square atrium, by the Easter Bunny and along downtown Spokane sidewalks to spread a message against hate. Carrying signs like “Welcome to Spokane, haters go elsewhere,” the group chanted “I’m smart, I’m down, I represent my town” as they walked along the sidewalks. It was a rally, organizer Alfredo Llamedo said, “to send a message as a community that we don’t support or tolerate hate against anyone for any reason.” He noted the hate mail received by the president of Spokane’s NAACP chapter, the beating of a transgendered woman in downtown Spokane and distribution of racist pamphlets in North Idaho – all in the last few months. “We’re seeing these hateful events creep up to the top,” said Llamedo, a Spokane resident and Eastern Washington University social work graduate student. Before the group set out on its march, they sang “Imagine” by John Lennon, and Llamedo addressed them with a megaphone. He spoke of the need to end bullying in schools and noted a recent study by an EWU professor that showed that Spokane police disproportionately stop black and Native American residents (though the study concluded that the department does not display a pattern of racial bias when deciding who to search and arrest). “I see that as institutional hate,” Llamedo said. While most the signs focused on stopping “H8,” two marched with a sign calling for “Equal Human Rights for Palestinians.” The group stopped chanting and walked quietly as they walked through the River Park Square atrium and by the Easter Bunny. “We believe we needed a broader response,” said Shar Lichty, an organizer for the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane, who attended the march. “It’s important to come together as a community.”