The Shooting In Denver On 4/20 Does Not Represent The Marijuana Movement
I was so happy when I found out that I was going to Denver for April 20, 2013 to attend the High Times Cannabis Cup. I was also excited to participate in the rally at the Denver Civic Center. I was in attendance last year for the rally, and it will always be remembered as one of my favorite moments of my life. Seeing so many people expressing their First Amendment rights through a peaceful gathering was inspiring.
This year I was at the Cup the entire Saturday leading up to 4:20, so I was not in attendance at the rally. I was actually running back to my hotel to get more marijuana when I received a call from my friend who informed me that shots had been fired at the Denver Civic Center rally. My heart instantly sank, I started thinking about how I hoped everyone was OK, and starting also thinking about how the mainstream media would portray the rally shooting. It was the first rally after marijuana had become legal, and I know marijuana opponents were already trying to find anything and everything that they could to portray the day in a negative light.
Unfortunately, some idiots that don’t represent the marijuana community had to ruin it for everyone. It sounds like the people that were injured are going to be OK, which is obviously a good thing, but the marijuana movement no doubt has a black eye that it will have to deal with. Who the F brings guns to a peaceful rally? There is no place for violence and/or weapons at a marijuana rally or other event. Period. Everyone is there to have a good time. What a sad thing. It sounds like the suspects that did it are still at large. It’s not everyday that I urge people to cooperate with the police, but I would like to see these guys apprehended because their actions were dangerous and harmful to the people they injured, as well as to the image of marijuana in general. Below is a description of the suspects from Examiner.Com:
Police are searching for two men who fired shots during the 420 Pot Rally the Denver Post reported on April 20. According to a tweet from the Denver Police one of the 420 Rally suspects is a black male wearing a black and white checked shirt. In another tweet from the Denver Police, a second suspect in the 420 Rally in Denver shooting is a light-skinned black male, approximately 6-feet tall and 180 pounds wearing a gray hoodie, black pants and a Caroline baseball cap.
