Some voices not reported in Trump rally story

To the Editor:

I am writing to express my disappointment in the article run in yesterday's paper covering the Trump rally and counter-protest that occurred on Saturday.

The article quoted Trump supporters and the organizer John DePetro with extremely derogatory and inflammatory statements about counter-protesters. It did not put any attempt into looking into the validity of these statements. It just left the painted picture of smelly, trashy and terrible people as counter-protesters. It did not include the vile quotes from DePetro given publicly from the State House steps regarding minorities and immigrants in Rhode Island (please feel free to see RI Future's coverage which has full videos and quotes of these statements), though it did quote his demeaning caricature of the counter-protesters.

It did not quote the Trump supporters who were shouting White Power and giving Nazi salutes at the rally. Nor did it examine the local hate groups who were part of the Trump supporter contingent.

I was not present at the counter-protest. However, I know many fine Rhode Islanders who were, and the article you allowed to be printed in your paper was insulting to them. It would have taken minimal work to correct the record. There were multiple organizations involved in organizing the counter-protest and the article should have reflected the very real reasons they did so.

I know that I am not the only person reaching out to the paper and reporter regarding this, and I hope to see a follow-up to set the record straight.

It was extremely disappointing to open up the paper I subscribe to and see such unprofessional and inflammatory journalism.

Kathleen Ogni

Editor’s note: Tessa Roy, who reported the story, offered the following response: Since I was covering a different event happening at the State House at the same time of this rally, I understand this story was not as complete as it could have been. I heard from many people who felt hurt by the story, and the criticism of it (this letter is a pretty thorough representation of what many people told us I failed to document that day) is an opportunity for some reflection. The Beacon always encourages sending letters to the editor, and in this case especially, I’m thankful for those, including readers Kathleen Ogni and Jackie Waits, who reached out to the paper and other outlets. I am disappointed for not managing to include the counter-protesters in the story, but I’ve definitely listened to the feedback provided. I will not forget what happened here and will make an effort to better include more voices in my stories.