The immigration protest

Managing editor Gary Graham was reluctant to put today’s immigration protest on the front page because of the relatively small size of the crowd. Senior editor Carla Savalli, on the other hand, said that given the prominence of the issue nationally, Spokane’s response, regardless of crowd size, is an important news event in the community. We’ve got it slated for the page one centerpiece as of right now, but things could change before tomorrow morning.

And speaking of crowd size, the number in our story shifted somewhat this afternoon. Virginia de Leon’s original estimate was 200, photographer Jed Conklin thought it was around 100, which we used for a while to err on the side of caution. Veteran reporter and crowd-counter Jim Camden estimates 160 marching and 250 at the courthouse, which is the number we’re reporting for now.

De Leon said people were coming and going throughout the event, so it’s hard to pin down an exact number, but she’s confident it’s more than 200.