ROANOKE, Va. – Roanoke NAACP hosted a vigil Thursday night to honor the people who died from the insurrection a year ago.
A dozen Roanoke residents gathered on the upper level on the Market Street Walkway and lit a candle in the victims’ memory.
Brenda Hale and local advocates pushed the message of protecting voting rights as a way to save democracy.
Hale served as a medical specialist for 13 years in the army and said she was disappointed to see rioters chose to express their anger by storming the Capitol.
“That’s not how we handle differences,” she said. “We handle differences through communication. We handle differences through arbitration. We handle it in a different way. That’s not how you solve problems.”
Hale said the next step is to push for the passing of the Voting Rights Bill as a piece of election reform.