Police on hand for Repent Amarillo rally
Mon, 09 May 2011 02:14:54 GMT — A political rally was held in Amarillo Sunday with more than 20 police officers on hand at Sam Houston Park to keep the peace, but why?
David Grisham, who is running for Amarillo Mayor, is the founder of Repent Amarillo. He originally planned the rally but his following wasn't as large as those that opposed him.
"Amarillo Texas is not just the home of this cult," said Scott Erwin of Amarillo Citizens Against Repent Amarillo "We are more than the hatred and the intolerance represented by him."
One of Grisham's supporters, Terry Jones, the man most notably known for his burning of the Quran in Florida last year, said that he thinks people should just listen to what Repent Amarillo has to say.
"We think many things have been misconstrued as to who we are and what we have to say," said Erwin. "So I think any time we have an opportunity to actually really share with the people the issues and what we're talking about, then we're pleased with it and we hope definitely people listened to what we had to say and I believe that happened."
But what issues were Jones and Grisham talking about?
"Homosexuality, abortion and then Islam," said Jones.
The group's website says it feels called upon to oppose things like gay pride, earth worship events like Earth Day, and breast cancer events like Race for the Cure, as well as to illuminate what it believes is a link between abortion and breast cancer.
"We came out to show that Amarillo is not represented by the hatred that this man represents," said Erwin.
Erwin said he started his group after he went to a Polk Street Block Party where he saw Grisham yelling inappropriately at him through a megaphone.
