The startling acts of racial violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, sparked by efforts to remove statues and memorials to the Confederacy, resulted in a gathering of about 60 people on the lawn of the Yellowstone County Courthouse on Sunday, calling for peace, justice and inclusion.  KTVQ.com reports that Penny Ronning, a member of the group Billings Rises was among the organizers of the impromptu demonstration.  She is also running for the Billings City Council.

Ronning said there were a lot of groups doing rapid response in the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville, where one person was killed and 19 injured by a man who drove into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters at a rally of white supremacists.  Other local groups involved included Sanctuary Rising, Big Sky Rising and the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.

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