Support for Ukraine protest at Acacia Park this weekend
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Colorado Springs native is organizing a Support for Ukraine and Anti-War Protesters in Russia event in Colorado Springs for this weekend.
Dave Ridley of Colorado Springs, currently living in New Hampshire, has seen first-hand the tragedy of warfare, having assisted in filming documentaries of the Bosnian War in the 90s. He says scenes out of Ukraine over the last week reminded him of those times.
“I guess some of what happened there has driven what I’m doing," says Ridley.
Unlike Denver and its metro area, which has had multiple support for Ukraine protests, Ridley says he's surprised to see Colorado Springs hasn't rallied together yet, to his knowledge.
He hopes to change that this weekend in downtown Colorado Springs at Acacia Park.
“I went to Facebook and was like, 'oh, let me find a Ukraine demonstration in Colorado Springs, it should be any day now.' And there wasn’t one scheduled," says Ridley.
"So I just went ahead and scheduled one. It hadn’t occurred to me there wouldn’t already be one. I thought there’d been one in every town by now.”
Ridley says he hopes to see the Ukranian community in Colorado — but especially the Russian community, and fellow Americans.
“It took a long time for opposition to build to what was happening in Bosnia," Ridley says of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"In this case, the world is just, like, immediately right behind Ukraine.”
Below is information on the event:
Where: Tejon and Bijou (southwest corner of Acacia Park), Colorado Springs, Colorado
When: Saturday, March 5, 2022, at 2 p.m.
