RFP Staff
♦ The Peace-Unity March in support of “Black Lives Matter” went on today as planned in Salisbury. In a difficult to estimate march, the crowd was said to be from 200 to as much 400 or more people.
At 12:30 p.m. people began to arrive at the staging area in Big Lots parking lot off of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue. The crowd there swelled to about 150 folks with people showing up later as the march got underway. The “Black Lives Matter” march was a response to the two Black men shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Minneapolis, Minnesota and to the shooting deaths of 5 police officers in Dallas, Texas. The three incidents motivated Rhonna Woodruff Oglesby to organize today’s protest. Others joined with her in successfuly putting the march together.
In today’s peaceful protest no negative incidents occurred. The Salisbury Police were present, but did not position Special Response Team members on roofs and no one was asked to leave any establishments in the Downtown area. Patrol cars escorted the marchers all along their route from East Innes all the way to Park Sterling Bank. Cordiality, brotherhood, and sisterhood accompanied the marchers during the entire route.
The March in Downtown Salisbury:
A small counter-protest occurred where vehicles streamed Confederate battle flags in the area of Captain D’s Seafood Restaurant. The men and women there were polite as well.
All along the parade route the marchers, chanting “Black Lives Matter”, adhered to the center of East and West Innes Streets. They passed the city’s iconic winged angel dedicated to fallen Confederates veterans without incident. Today’s message was delivered in peace and harmony.
The marchers gathering together:
Don’t Shoot–Black Lives Matter:
NAACP President Scott Teamer says hello:
“Black Lives Matter”
Police patrol car provides an escort:
Outgoing NAACP President Scott Teamer speaks to the crowd:
Sisterhood at the March:
Captain Thompson and a friend:
The marchers commiserate:
