3 days ago
Spokane Pride Parade and Festival, and accompanying protests, will proceed unfazed by Wednesday's tensions
Jun. 12—Spokane's Pride Parade and Festival will proceed Saturday along with several protests planned well in advance of an anti-ICE protest Wednesday that quickly escalated into a standoff with police and ended with a curfew order.
Spokane Pride is hosting the local iteration of a nationwide anti-Trump rally called "No Kings" at 4 p.m. near the Big Red Wagon in partnership with Spokane Indivisible — as well as a local civil rights Stonewall Rally at 3 p.m. in the Lilac Bowl.
Organizers feel well-prepared for any possible spillover of tensions from earlier in the week but expect events to proceed normally, said Jacob Schwartz, president of Spokane Pride, during a Thursday afternoon news conference. Spokane Pride maintains a command center with active lines of communication with stages and volunteers, and will have assistance from the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane and the PEACE Angels to de-escalate protests if necessary, Schwartz added.
"First and foremost, come," he said. "We want to see you here. Of course it's tense times, tumultuous, but right now, everything is planned to be operating as normal at Spokane Pride."
Spokane police will have their regular presence at the Pride events Saturday, Schwartz noted, and the organization has been in conversations with the department, but there are currently no plans for increased patrols or any other changes.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown intends to walk in the parade alongside a contingent of city employees and members of the City Council, she said Thursday. While there are heightened tensions nationwide to keep an eye on and it's not always clear when those might spill over, she said she was not aware of any reason to believe rallies would flare up Saturday.
At least one other event scheduled Saturday could also contribute to tensions. Evangelical preacher and self-described Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht, best known locally for his controversial appearance in 2023 alongside former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward and former state Representative Matt Shea, recently announced he is planning to host "Jesus Fest '25" in Spokane on Saturday. Feucht, who has been in Los Angeles in recent days condemning "anarchists" and "rioters," has stated the event will take Spokane "for Jesus during the largest pride festival."
