Editor’s note: The Peterson Space Force Base Anti-Terrorism Office recently issued a security notice about an upcoming Juneteenth festival at The Citadel mall. A version of this story that appeared on Saturday incorrectly stated the security alert originated at the Air Force Academy and representatives with the academy agreed to pull it back.

The Colorado Springs Police Department erred in attributing the security alert to the academy and department staff provided Police Chief Adrian Vasquez with bad information, said Ira Cronin, a spokesman for the Police Department.

Men of Influence, a group focused on violence intervention and de-escalation, pushed back against a security alert surrounding this week’s Southern Colorado Juneteenth Festival that Adrian Vasquez, Colorado Springs’ police chief, said was inaccurate.

The notice specifically warned against attending Juneteenth, scheduled Friday-Sunday at The Citadel mall, because Men of Influence is supporting the event.

Vasquez said the one of his deputy chiefs worked to clear it up.

“There was no real factual basis for them to put that out,” he said.

Space Operations Command said in response to an emailed question from the Gazette about the police chief saying the notice was inaccurate by saying that any large gathering triggers heightened awareness advisories.

“The heightened vigilance is based off elevated risk due to the location, size, and public nature of the event,” a note from Space Base Delta 1, public affairs said.

Men of Influence put out a video Friday afternoon on social media pushing back against the security notice, in a line-by-line fashion. The security notice posted in the video has a Space Operations Command logo on it. The command did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Men of Influence video states that, in four years, the group has never been involved in acts of violence and in fact are committed to preventing it.

“MOI has repeatedly stepped in when tensions threatened to boil over,” the video states. Incidents in The Citadel mall have also declined since the group opened offices there.

Vasquez confirmed that Men of Influence is not on his department’s radar in a negative way.

The chief said his department had no specific concern about Juneteenth, compared to any other large event such as Territory Days. Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1864 when slaves in Texas received the news they were free, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Colorado Springs’ Juneteenth celebration was held at America the Beautiful Park last year before moving the east-side mall area.

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