White Nationalist Conference Canceled At Colorado Resort
By Tom Mustin
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4)- Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers says the cancellation of a white nationalist group's conference was not a city decision, but he applauded the move.
Colorado Springs resident Jeremy Loew is still outraged.
"I was offended but more so I was shocked. They don't like Jews. They don't like blacks," he told CBS4's Tom Mustin.
Tuesday, after public outcry, a planned conference by anti-immigration group VDARE at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort was abruptly canceled. Loew is an attorney, and a member of the Resort's country club.
"I'm Jewish. I wear a Star of David. I was going to be in the same pool as a bunch of white supremacists and that was concerning to me," he told Mustin.
The resort would not comment on why they canceled next year's event, but Suthers, a vocal critic of the group's planned event, had his own theories.
"They took a couple of days to talk to their lawyers and they made a business decision that this was not a group that they wanted to host and I applaud them for that," he said.
The event had received harsh criticism in the wake of the deadly white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Va. VDARE is based out of Connecticut. Its website describes the group as a patriotic immigration reform organization that believes "diversity is not strength but vulnerability."
"It certainly had some overtones of white supremacy from my viewpoint," said Suthers.
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo had been a scheduled speaker at the event. He defended the group.
"What VDARE does is support the idea of cultural supremacy. It's got nothing to do with race or color of skin," he said.
Regardless, the group will not appear in Colorado Springs, a gesture Loew says speaks volumes about his city.
"While there's still bigotry and hate and anti-Semitism in this world, it's not going to have to be in my back yard."
Tuesday the Cheyenne Mountain Resort released this statement, "Cheyenne Mountain Resort will not be hosting the VDARE Foundation in April of next year. We remain committed to respecting the privacy of guests at the resort."
VDARE has not released a statement yet, but did mention they were recently kicked off PayPal. Their website states, "we were given no reasons. Best guess, the Charlottesville debacle."
Tom Mustin is CBS4's Weekend Anchor. He has been with CBS4 since 2002, and is always looking for great story ideas. Connect with Tom on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @TomCBS4.