More than 100 gather in Austin to show support, urge activism

Hours after a car plowed into a crowd protesting against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, more than 100 people in Austin gathered at Wooldridge Square Park near the Travis County Courthouse to honor those killed and injured in the incident.

The attack on the crowd in Charlottesville killed one person and injured at least 19 more. A helicopter crash that killed two Virginia state troopers later that afternoon also was linked to the rally.

The group in Austin initially assembled around 7 p.m. Participants began with small discussions as they waited to take turns sharing their feelings about the day’s events with the entire group through a microphone and speaker.

Candace Aylor, one of the organizers of the Austin event, said the vigil was intended to show support for the Virginia counterprotesters who challenged the white supremacists marching in Charlottesville.

She said the gathering will only be effective if it’s followed by strong advocacy for policy changes.

“I need you to get uncomfortable after tonight,” Aylor said. “Show up at the (Texas) Capitol and do the work.”

Austin City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan attended the vigil and spoke about his eight months at City Hall and how he has “seen and started to realize the system of subtle white supremacy that exists in that building — and it’s hard to define.”

But he went on to explain that “sometimes the terms aren’t immediately racist, but when you think about land use, when you think about budgets, when you think about how resources are allocated, it is ultimately a lack of equity that has caused many of the problems not just in Austin but across the nation.”

The Rev. John Gage of the United Church of Christ took the microphone to say that those who don’t actively oppose racism are complicit in its oppression.

“This racism, this white supremacy wears our face — and it’s up to us (to end it),” he said.

Martha Mercado, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and Counter Balance: ATX, began crying in her remarks to the crowd as she described the anger she has because “my people have been systemically oppressed.”

“We’re dragged behind buggies, we’re hung. It’s not easy,” she said. “You have to use your privilege, my white allies.”

Mercado expressed frustration but echoed other speakers’ calls for activism.

“I’m here to honor the loss but also to tell you I’m tired of coming out here,” she said. “Coming out to these events is not enough. It’s a good start but you’ve got to stay involved and reach out to these marginalized communities. We can’t do this alone. We need you.”

Another speaker, Nathan Simmons, who said he was of Jewish and Chinese decent, called for anti-supremacists to stand together in the face of hate.

“A divided left is a winning right,” he said. “We have to stop these Nazis. They will kill us, and they have.”

As night fell, the crowd lighted candles, and Elias Ponvert and his 9-year-old daughter, Katharine Pruett-Ponvert, led the crowd in singing “Amazing Grace.”

Katharine was one of two children to speak at the vigil.

“That somebody actually got killed hurts me a lot,” she said. “I don’t like it and we, here together, have to stop it. It’s not going to stop it on its own.”