DENVER (KDVR) — Supporters of an El Paso County rancher rallied on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol for transparency and justice on Friday. 

Courtney Mallery claims his neighbors are vandalizing his property and hurting his animals because of his race. He further claims that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is not doing enough to protect his family.

“El Paso County let the Mallerys down. El Paso County did not protect these people from the craziness and the whiteness that’s happening in the country,” Rocky Mountain NAACP President Portia Prescott said during Friday’s rally. 

The small-town Colorado story is now making national headlines. 

“I’m here today because I see how hard they work, I have seen what they have built with their own hands and that is something that has to be cherished and protected and especially in Colorado,” Prescott said. 

“I’ve been told not to go on certain sides of my property but for twice a year, it’s been hard y’all. It’s been hard,” Mallery said during the rally. 

According to Mallery, he has lost ten cows, half of his pigs, dogs and a goat since he started his farm in 2020. He says violence against his family and farm has “not stopped” and that “recently they poisoned another cow of [his].”

Mallery also claims El Paso County deputies have botched investigations into his reports and, in some cases, are involved in efforts against him. 

Earlier this week, EPSO released more than 100 pages of documents and body camera video to refute his allegations. 

“I can’t explain the level of my frustration,” Mallery said. 

He marched alongside about a hundred others from the Capitol building to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in City Park. 

“We gotta be able to call it out and hold those that are in power accountable so that change can happen,” Mallery said.