Five Fucking THOUSAND Resistance Fighters in Louisville

UPDATE:  My pictures below.

I was there.  InsiderLouisville has the story and great pictures.

“In Louisville and around the country, these are people who start businesses, join the PTAs, pay taxes and make valuable contributions to their communities,” Mayor Fischer said. “And last week’s travel ban on anyone entering the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries runs counter to the America we know and love — a strong, courageous, outwardly looking, optimistic, multicultural nation.”

He encouraged attendees to get to know one another and “just be a good neighbor.”

Following the ban, some U.S. mayors, including those in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., restated their commitment to serve as “sanctuary cities,” meaning they would not use city funds or resources to enforce immigration laws. Fischer has not declared Louisville a sanctuary city, a largely symbolic title, but said previously that city officials would not start rounding people up.

During his speech at the rally, Fischer again stopped short of calling Louisville a sanctuary city. However, he stated that Louisville Metro Police Department’s main objective is public safety. It is not the police department’s job to enforce immigration laws, and no resources will diverted from public safety initiatives, he said.

Ky. Rep. Attica Scott tweeted out a petition Monday afternoon calling on Fischer to designate Louisville a sanctuary city. The petition had more than 1,000 signatures as of 8:30 p.m. Monday.

It was amazing.  The rally was set up for the plaza in front of the Muhammad Ali Center, but the crowd quicky overflowed the plaza, overflowed the pedestrian bridge across Sixth Street, overflowed the roof of the parking garage, and filled Sixth Street from the river to Main Street.

There was a lady there with a sign saying "Bosnian refugee" and arrows pointing to herself.  I went over and asked if I could hug her, and she said yes, and I hugged her and said "thank you for coming to America, thank you for coming to Kentucky, and thank you for coming here tonight." 

At the end of the rally, we sang the national anthem a capella, then marched down to Jefferson St. and rallied again on the steps of Louisville Metro Hall and around the statue of Thomas Jefferson.

5,000 people.  This is just the beginning.