Denver’s March on the NRA protest organized by students is still planned for Saturday afternoon despite a group of young activists pulling out because of violent threats they received.
The local gun-control advocacy group Students Demand Action pulled their affiliation with the protest Wednesday night after a Tuesday night discussion about how to handle online violent threats the teens were receiving.
Ethan Somers, an 18-year-old activist from Evergreen, wanted to assure the community that the protest will continue.
“Every time we plan to stand up for students there is always a group or someone who thinks it is OK to threaten innocent lives,” Somers wrote in a statement. “There were talks of what do we do for all scenarios and one was to cancel the march/rally, however we will not be bullied into fear.”
The Colorado State Patrol and the Denver Police Department were notified of the online threats from several people. Somers said both entities determined it is safe to continue the rally.
A Denver Police spokeswoman told The Denver Post on Wednesday that authorities wouldn’t confirm whether a threat was credible, but that they would make sure the events were staffed appropriately.
“There are gun violence survivors planning on attending, and the survivors won’t allow this kind of tactic to create fear or stop them from speaking out and trying to make change,” Somers said. “That’s what I really took to heart this past week.”
The march’s goal remains to spotlight how the NRA influences politicians and will feature family members of victims of the Aurora theater shooting and Columbine shooting as speakers.
The march is planned for 11:30 a.m. on the west steps of the Capitol building in downtown Denver. Counter-protestors, including Second Amendment-advocacy group Rally for our Rights, are planning to attend.