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National activist group against ‘Cop Cities’ rally outside Colorado Springs City Hall

The activist group that opposed Colorado Springs’ police training academy returned to City Hall on Tuesday as part of a national day opposing police brutality and overreach.

Around 15 people showed up for the Stop Cop City COS rally outside of City Hall but only two people spoke during the Colorado Springs City Council meeting inside. The coalition of activist groups organized last year to oppose the city’s ballot measure asking voters to use Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights funds to build a new police academy. The measure failed, but the city has continued working on the training academy plans.

The group’s remarks Tuesday were part of a broader nationwide effort called Stop Cop Nation to hold multiple demonstrations against police funding. Speakers focused on the city departments and social services that could be paid for instead of the budget increase for the Colorado Springs Police Department.

“Choosing to allocate so much funding to police, to jails and prisons, to training facilities we are calling Cop Cities, is a choice to build our city on a foundation of death and violence,” organizer Jackie Othon said during the meeting.

Marianne Moore holds a sign during a demonstration held by Stop Cop City COS at City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette) (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
Marianne Moore holds a sign during a demonstration held by Stop Cop City COS at City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette) (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)

Organizer John Crowe presented the City Council with a long scroll as an invoice for the work they had done cleaning up trails and working with homeless people near Dorchester Park. Crowe rolled the scroll through the door out of the chambers, showing 1,174 hearts and suns representing the people who had reportedly been killed nationally by police brutality in the last year, a number that matches The Washington Post’s running tally of fatal shootings in the past 12 months.

Crowe spoke out specifically against the funding for the Homeless Outreach Team run through the Colorado Springs Police Department. He said the encampment sweeps conducted by the team leave behind considerable amounts of trash, and he cited a recent study looking at Denver that found sweeps did not reduce crime or significantly improve safety in the area.

The protesters were not the only ones that showed up for the council meeting. A group of veterans attended to accept the city’s annual Veterans Day resolution and left minutes before the protesters entered. The majority of the meeting’s public comment period was taken up with people making noise complaints about Ford Amphitheater.

Jacki Othon, co-chair of Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America and member of Stop Cop City COS, speaks Tuesday to a group of demonstrators at City Hall. About 15 people participated in the Stop Cop City COS demonstration at City Hall as part of a nationwide effort through the Stop Cop Nation to hold multiple demonstrations against police brutality and overreach. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
Jacki Othon, co-chair of Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America and member of Stop Cop City COS, speaks Tuesday to a group of demonstrators at City Hall. About 15 people participated in the Stop Cop City COS demonstration at City Hall as part of a nationwide effort through the Stop Cop Nation to hold multiple demonstrations against police brutality and overreach. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
A banner decorated with hearts representing 1,174 people killed by police nationwide in the last 12 months stretches out of city council chambers and into the hallway as Jacki Othon, co-chair of Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America and member of Stop Cop City COS, speaks, Tuesday. Approximately 15 people participated in the Stop Cop City COS demonstration at City Hall as part of a nationwide effort through the Stop Cop Nation to hold multiple demonstrations on Oct. 22 against police brutality and overreach. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
A banner decorated with hearts representing 1,174 people killed by police nationwide in the last 12 months stretches out of city council chambers and into the hallway as Jacki Othon, co-chair of Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America and member of Stop Cop City COS, speaks, Tuesday. Approximately 15 people participated in the Stop Cop City COS demonstration at City Hall as part of a nationwide effort through the Stop Cop Nation to hold multiple demonstrations on Oct. 22 against police brutality and overreach. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)


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