Around 200 residents attended a ‘Candlelight Vigil Against Hate’ in Burien Wednesday night, Nov. 1. Participants met at Azteca Restaurant, then walked to Burien Town Square, where the vigil was held to denounce a flyer mailed to thousands of Burien residents last week by Respect Washington, an organization with ties to an extremist, out-of-state hate group. The flyer showed a map with the names and addresses of immigrant residents of Burien and alleged that they had committed violent crimes. “What they are saying about our efforts in Burien are just lies. There’s no hate connected to it at all. It was simply a voter education communication that informed Burien neighbors what kind of crime – and where the crime was occurring – in their community,” Keller told KING5 in an interview. The march and vigil was held after a fundraiser for a Burien City Council candidate at Azteca. Another ‘Walk for Unity, Community & Culture‘ will be held this Friday night, starting at 5:15 p.m. at Burien Town Square, then continue to the Dia de los Muertos celebration at Burien Community Center. Here are some photos from Wednesday night’s event courtesy Cameron Johnson (click images to view larger images/slideshow): And more courtesy Shelli Park: Here’s a story KING5 did on how this issue has inspired some Burien residents to take action: And here’s an audio news story by 88.5 KNKX And some relevant Tweets:

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Since 2007, The B-Town Blog is Burien’s multiple award-winning hyperlocal news/events website dedicated to independent journalism.