Sault Ste Marie, MI – A second rally organized by local university students in recognition of the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement took place Wednesday afternoon in downtown Sault Ste Marie, MI.
The event started at roughly 4:30 pm with about a dozen activists and the crowd slowly grew to well over 300 people within the next hour. All four corners of Ashmun St and Portage Ave were packed with demonstrators carrying signs supporting Black Lives Matter (BLM). Some supporters brought megaphones and would periodically start the chant, “No Justice, No Peace” several times while the crown chanted along.
Nearly all vehicles that traveled through the intersection blew their horns in support of the movement bringing loud cheers from the demonstrators. Only one vehicle attempted cause a disruption, but the crowd stayed calm. Nobody tried to block traffic and none of the demonstrators shouted anything derogatory. If was a very well organized, peaceful demonstration indicative of the young ladies who organized the rally: Miranda Schomberg, Lauren Anderson and Brianna Lyons. Ms Anderson spoke with Sault Police Chief John Riley prior to the rally and both walked away with a mutual understanding of the rules and the women ensured it proceeded that way.
I understand more rallies are planned in the area and I hope they all proceed as smoothly as the first two did.
Ironically, the rally started just after the Minnesota Attorney General announced that charges against the police officer accused of murdering George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, were increased from Third Degree Murder and Manslaughter to Second Degree Murder while the other three officers on the scene, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao, have been charged with Aiding and Abetting Second Degree Murder.
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