The riots that occurred at the United States Capitol were anything but peaceful protests. The attack on the Capitol was dangerous and frightening to many people. The riot occurred on January 6th of 2021. The Malden Community decided to come together on January 10th in the Malden City Hall Plaza to express thoughts and opinions of the Capitol storming.
The rally had an outcome of 50 to 100 people. “Thankfully everyone was wearing a mask and the plaza offered enough space to socially distance and stay safe,” said State Representative, Steve Ultrino.
The Malden Against the Coup Rally was a time for people to share and speak up about the shared anger and sadness they felt. “We need to be careful to always be wary against hate whenever and wherever we see it, especially in our own backyard, and especially with our loved ones,” said Ultrino. The rally was a chance for everyone to join together and continue building Malden’s growing sense of community.
The storming of the Capitol caused many voices to grow. Diego Maldonado spoke at the Malden Against the Coup Rally, catching the attention of many people. “When [he] went about it, [he] talked about [himself] as a regular citizen of the United States [who] saw of the insurrection that occurred,” said Moldonado.
Ultrino expressed that “one thing people need to realize is that radicalism and white supremacy don’t begin at events as we saw at the Capitol, they begin as prejudices that we allow to grow if we dismiss them as insignificant, which so often people do.” Ultrino continues to explain how radicalism in any form can affect anyone, and as a community, we should help and influence people to think better than the actions of the Capitol riots.
The Malden Against the Coup Rally had a good outcome, with not only the numbers but with the amount of connection and community that was shared as well. Maldonado explained that “People were very angry about what happened and all open about that, and when it came to talking about it everyone shared one common idea, that there was no reason to condone any of the actions on the Capitol.” Malden coming together during the COVID-19 pandemic and during the recent events that have caused tremendous controversy is something that people needed to see.
