Discussion on protecting houses of worship coming to Pueblo July 24

The Pueblo City-County Library District is set to host an interfaith event July 24 to provide information to faith-based institutions about threats of violence to houses of worship and responsive measures to counter potential risks, including active shooters.

The "Protecting Houses of Worship" event is set to take place at the Rawlings Library at 100 E. Abriendo Ave., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will include a series of panels discussing topics like threats facing the faith community, faith security, nonprofit security grants, prevention and response. There will also be a question-and-answer discussion.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch told the Chieftain that similar events are held periodically across the state of Colorado. He said the first was held in August 2015 after a mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine churchgoers were killed at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church .

"We did a number of events across the state after that. Like everything else, it sort of shut down during the pandemic, but previous U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan revived the project. We've had more than half a dozen now since we restarted them. The most recent ones were in North Glenn and in Montrose," Kirsch said.

'No question' Colorado sees violence targeting religious institutions

In 2019, Pueblo experienced its own incident of attempted religious violence when Richard Holzer, a then-28-year-old man, attempted to destroy Pueblo's Temple Emanuel Synagogue with explosives and was arrested by undercover agents with the FBI.

Holzer was sentenced in February 2021 to 19 1/2 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections after pleading guilty  to two federal charges: attempt to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs through force and the attempted use explosives and fire, plus attempted arson of the now 124-year old building.

Colorado has experienced other acts of religious violence over the past several years.

"About two years ago, (the U.S. Attorney's Office) ended up prosecuting a person who threw a Molotov cocktail at the door of a church in Loveland," Kirsch said. "Earlier this year, there was another arson at a church in Aurora ... there's no question that we have had this kind of violence targeting religious institutions in Colorado in the recent past."

Kirsch stated that the event is a part of the broader civil rights work done by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"We take on a lot of issues that relate to religious communities including protecting them from discrimination, prosecuting hate crimes and protecting religious freedom," he said. "All of that work is related to the topics we cover in these events, which really boil down to helping people continue to enjoy the freedoms of religious practice they are supposed to have under the constitution."

Pueblo was selected as a destination partially based on a request by 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner, who has maintained a long-standing partnership with the U.S. DA's office, Kirsch said.

"He thought it would be useful to do another one of these in Pueblo, and so we're happy to accommodate that," he said.

Chostner told the Chieftain that Pueblo has hosted three previous presentations over the past 11 years, all of which were well attended.

"These presentations have been under 2 previous US Attorneys, John Walsh and Bob Troyer," Chostner said in an email. "I think it is good for the community to see the partnership we have with the Federal Government, and what their tools are to combat any aggressive/criminal action against any house of worship.

"This Office, as well as the US Attorney's Office, is committed to peaceful communities and individual rights to worship according to their faith in calm and security. This is yet another example of our continuing partnership with the US Attorney to protect individual safety and freedom of religion in Southern Colorado," he said.

The event is sponsored by the 10th Judicial District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado, Community Relations Services for the Rocky Mountain Region, Temple Emmanuel Pueblo, and the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo.

"In our eyes, this event fits squarely within two of the most important missions of the U.S. Attorney's Office -- promoting public safety and protecting civil rights," Kirsch said. "That's one of the reasons we do these events and continue to do them throughout the state."

The event is open to the public, although attendees are asked to RSVP if possible by emailing Jillian.Dardani@usdoj.gov.

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This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Discussion on protecting houses of worship coming to Pueblo July 24