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Mayor Vince Gray doesn’t have many friends these days, and those that he does have are likely staying quiet as the investigation into the $653,000 shadow campaign runs it course. But two religious leaders are organizing a rally tomorrow where Gray’s supporters—or at least the folks that want to see the investigation completed before deciding whether or not Gray should resign—can be heard.

The rally, which will demand that Gray be given the “courtesy and respect” of a “fair and equitable process,” is being organized by The Rev. Graylan Hagler of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ and the Rev. Willie F. Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church. And while the rally will focus on encouraging Gray to stay on as U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ron Machen continues his investigation, the Post’s Mike DeBonis reported that Hagler and Wilson’s grievances will also touch upon the city’s usual racial insecurities:

Hagler also raised the specter of a racial divide at work in the resignation calls: “You have Catania, who is white. Cheh is white. Bowser sees herself as the inheritor of [former Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s] supporters and that by no means really reflected the community of color,” he said.

He added, “There’s that tension among people, among members of my church, in terms of suspicions of what’s going on. Nobody wants anybody to stay in office who’s a thief, who’s greedy, who’s dishonest. But particularly when you look at where we have gone, there’s real concerns, real worries that people are being priced out, moved out or politicized out.”

For his part, Hagler said he’d have to see “malfeasance, that basic kind of dishonesty” before calling on Gray to resign. “I don’t see that right now,” he said. “I don’t see where the mayor is being accused of pocketing any money or any of that.”

One person who isn’t too keen on the rally is Sulaimon Brown, who said in a statement yesterday that it’s “literally ridiculous and unconscionably stupid” of Hagler and Wilson to be holding a rally for Gray.

The rally kicks off at 11 a.m. in front of the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. According to Gray’s spokesman, the mayor will not attend.

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