Colorado Springs, CO – On November 13, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) will meet at Fire Station 8 for the first time since being denied the public meeting space in September for political reasons.
On September 4, the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) notified COSAARPR that the city attorney had called the CSFD to say that the organization could not meet at fire stations in Colorado Springs. The politics of COSAARPR were described in a letter as “fundamentally incompatible with the Fire Department’s basic public safety mission which includes our partnership with the Colorado Springs Police Department.”
One week later, COSAARPR released a statement online calling the cancellation a “blatant attack on our right to partake in the political life and development of our city” and demanding access to the space. In the following weeks, COSAARPR continued to make reservations to meet at Fire Station 8.
On October 11, COSAARPR escalated the campaign by holding a press conference in front of the fire station, criticizing the city for attacking the organization’s ability to assemble and use a public space. Brandon Rincon, founder of COSAARPR, started by emphasizing that COSAARPR is an organization that “works alongside various families of Black, Chicano, Latino and indigenous descent who have lost loved ones to police shootings and racist violence.”
Rincon described the decision of the city attorney’s office as “racist political games” and “a field of struggle for continued repression” of COSAARPR. He also noted that this comes after COSAARPR “forced two bogus obstruction charges to a path of dismissal,” referring to charges members of the group were served at their homes after a march COSAARPR led in early March.
On October 24, the Colorado Springs Fire Department contacted COSAARPR and informed them that they had received word that COSAARPR is able to meet at the fire station moving forward, marking another victory for the group against repression from the police.
#ColoradoSpringsCO #CO #COSAARPR #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #PoliceCrimes #FreeSpeech
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