SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Members of the San Diego LGBTQ+ community and others came together Monday night in a time of sorrow caused by a tragedy hundreds of miles away in Colorado Springs.
It first started with a town hall-style community meeting at Rich’s Nightclub in Hillcrest, where local law enforcement and elected officials addressed safety, security and more with the community. The meeting then became a march and rally at the Pride Flag in Hillcrest.
“There are hundreds of people standing here that showed up at a moment’s notice to grieve, to stand united with their community members,” said Stephen Wood, who attended the meeting and rally.
During the community meeting, questions were fielded by law enforcement and elected officials by those who attended. Wood was one who had his question about statistics and the process being accessible online to the public about law enforcement’s effort to curb incidents against the LGBTQ+ community.
“I truly believe that they are doing everything in their power to keep us safe and to keep this a community people want to be in,” Wood said.
One of the people answering questions was San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit, who said the department is stepping up its presence for this community from uniformed to undercover officers and special units to show it’s safe for all.
“Our message is that we care. We care about this community. I have a lot of friends in this community and so I’m going to do everything I can as chief of police and I know my counterparts are going to assist me,” Nisleit said.
Those are welcomed words for those like Rich’s Nightclub owner Ryan Bedrosian, who said the Colorado Springs tragedy hits close to home.
“The San Diego Police Department, the elected officials have our backs and they're doing what they can to prevent this from happening. You know, if the politicians don't want to keep guns out of people's hands, at least the police can help keep guns from coming through our doors,” Bedrosian said.
“Not only is it an attack on our community, but it’s an attack on a place we consider to be a safe space,” he added.
As candles flickered in the night once again for lives taken from this tight-knit community, many hope they don’t have to march more times to the Pride Flag in Hillcrest to grieve for more of these tragedies.
“There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in our community across this country, across the world that are willing to stand up for each other and say no more. This has to end. We’re a community. Let’s just get along; let us live,” Wood said.
Nisleit and San Diego County Sheriff-Elect Kelly Martinez both say if anyone wants active shooter training for their business and colleagues they’re more than willing to provide that training if you contact their respected departments.
