- Sam Allard / Scene
At noon, supporters of the anti-government protesters in Ukraine gathered at Cleveland City Hall to raise awareness about the bloodshed and to voice their support for “[their] brothers and sisters” abroad.
The rally coincides with a dramatic escalation in violence in Kiev. Yesterday, security forces fired at protesters and killed at least 70 people, via reports by the New York Times and others.
In Cleveland, ralliers gathered at the Ukrainian parish St. Vladimir and processed in cars to City Hall, sporting Ukrainian flags and ribbons in bright blue and yellow. The tenor of the chants was to end the violence — “Stop the Bloodshed!” — and to impose sanctions on the government, in bed with the Russian Regime. — “Wake up Obama! Sanctions Now!”
A priest gave the opening invocation, quoting a priest friend of his who, from Kiev, had likened the sentiments of protesters to that of Braveheart’s William Wallace: “Give me liberty or give me death.”
Photos below of the event.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2014.
When a sports media hack complains that today’s athletes refuse to tackle national and international political issues due to indifference or ridiculous ignorance…please direct the hack to Vitali & Wladimir Klitschko. The Ukrainian brothers have dominated boxing’s heavyweight division for years, both have spoken loudly for political reforms in the Ukraine and Vitali is a key member of the opposition…..they carry the banner in the tradition of Ali, Bill Russell, Carlos & Smith, Peter Norman, Martin Jellinghaus and others.
Here’s hoping that everything over there settles down soon. The temporary peace has ended and now more bloodshed takes place. Honestly, it’s sad just how many people resort to violence on a daily basis to get what they want.