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Rally on Elmwood decries storming of Capitol

Dozens of people gathered at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Bidwell Parkway in Buffalo Thursday to condemn the overtaking of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump.

Niagara Falls Community Activist Julia Stevens said she is not surprised by Wednesday’s events in our nation’s capital.

“It’s not a surprise to me,” she said. “That people would gather and do something really drastic, that would rise to an act of terrorism with all the blatant hatred and racism that we see these days.”

Many politicians and media members have called the assault an outright attack on American Democracy. Stevens says she has a few ideas on how to move forward.

“We can rally behind Black women,” she said. “The Black women that have taken back the Senate. We can continue to rally behind local organizations and fell empowered that there are people who have been fighting this fight for a long time.”

Many of the speakers at the rally spoke about what they say is the growing groups of white nationalists in Western New York. Claims were made that these groups were on hand at the storming of the Capitol.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Thomas moved to Western New York at the age of 14. A graduate of Buffalo State College, he majored in Communications Studies and was part of the sports staff for WBNY. When not following his beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats and Boston Red Sox, Thomas enjoys coaching youth basketball, reading Tolkien novels and seeing live music.
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