Demonstrations come to L-C Valley

Three groups plan to hold rallies or patrol the streets of Lewiston on Saturday. All support the right to protest the killing of George Floyd, and all want peace in Lewiston and for Black Lives Matter protesters to be heard.

There will be a Black Lives Matter Peace Rally at 11 a.m. Saturday at Kiwanis Park in Lewiston. There will be a Defend Lewiston Second Amendment rally also at 11 a.m. Saturday at Brackenbury Square in Lewiston. A third group of concerned citizens with a Facebook presence called Protect LC Valley will be on the streets in a show of defense for the community.

A protest over Floyd’s killing while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police was held in Lewiston on Thursday afternoon. Natives for Black Lives Matter, organized by Buzz Cree, held a march and protest in downtown Lewiston that ended on the Nez Perce County Courthouse lawn. The event was peaceful.

“A stand today has been made by NiMiiPuu people and as long as there is injustice we will continue the fight for our brothers and sisters of color” Cree said in a Facebook post after the event. “Until Black Lives Matter we cannot say All Lives Matter.”

Black Lives Matter organizers JeaDa Lay and Madison Winn want to hold a peaceful protest Saturday morning where people gather in silence and listen. There may also be singing together, but it will be a time for people to reflect and listen.

The plan is for people to gather at Kiwanis Park on Snake River Avenue, and later the group will march on the levee pathway. The entire event should last about an hour and a half but it could go longer. The group’s Facebook page can be viewed at www.facebook.com/lcvblacklivesmatter.

“We are seeing people actively using their rights to be the change they wish to see in the world,” Lay said. “The change I wish to see in the world, is a society that has systems in place that do not push for greater inequalities. And I am working to be as peaceful and as kind and holding space for conversation as much as possible so I can share my story. This event, this time, is for people of color, black people, to share their stories and hope for change that we can have less fear and less threats given to future generations of all colors.”

The event’s Facebook page had gathered 400 people who said they were going to the event and another 1,000 who were interested. The city of Lewiston initially issued the group a permit, but later pulled it when the group disagreed with the city that the event should be postponed for a week.

“We did not want the movement to come in second to the logistics,” Winn said. “Momentum of this country right now with every protest that is happening in nearly every large city and in small places like Lewiston, we can’t lose that momentum, so we did not want to postpone because it needs to happen now. If it happens next week it would be fine but it would be listening to someone that didn’t want it to happen now, so that’s why we’re doing it.”

Lay and Winn are working to make it a safe event. They are planning on ways to keep the crowd apart for social distancing concerns because of the risk of COVID-19. Lay and Winn are planning to keep the protest away from businesses to allay concerns people have. Should anyone in the crowd attempt to start violence, looting or rioting, they will be asked to leave, Lay said.

“We wish to bring nothing but peace to the valley,” she said.

“I know people are scared of what they are seeing in the news, I understand that’s really hard but being someone that’s black and putting on an event like this and having people saying the things they are, you have to ask yourself why is the very phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ inciting more hate and anger and assumptions of violence than people who are literally saying all of these terrible things about what they would do to protesters,” Lay said, fighting back tears. “It’s really just a time to reflect. I’m not asking for this physical interaction, this violence, I don’t want anything to happen to our city, but people need to understand, like really reflect with what is happening in the world, sit with it, get off Facebook for a second, sit with what you are feeling and sit with what people are saying.”

“I will come at it from the white ally standpoint, which is that this country was founded on racism and it has been systemically racist for 400 years, over 400 years,” Winn said. “So my role in this is to simply shut up and make space for the black citizens of this country and with this event specifically is to support JeaDa and just help her plan.”

Lewiston police have enlisted the help of five other area law enforcement agencies to provide security and ensure safety at the Black Lives Matter Peace Rally and in downtown Lewiston, Chief Budd Hurd said. Lewiston police will have more officers on duty than normal and they will be joined by Nez Perce, Asotin and Lewis county sheriff’s office deputies, Clarkston police and Idaho State Police. City employees will also help direct traffic to parking.

Police will be in their normal uniforms, but some will be in plain clothes in the crowds to deal with any trouble they hope does not occur.

“There will definitely be a police presence on the levee and on the Main Street and D Street area that will be present and open,” Hurd said. “You plan for the worst and you hope for the best, obviously we see what is going on around us and you hope that it doesn’t get to that point.”

Police will try to intervene when they see problems and isolate any troublemakers in a safe zone where they can deal with the issue and remove that person or persons from the event, Hurd said.

“You don’t shut the whole thing down because you have one bad apple,” Hurd said. “It’s when things start to become where you can’t handle that, then you have to start thinking, ‘OK, what do I need to do to shut this thing down and move people back and get them out of here?’ Hopefully, none of that happens.

“When we have events like this, we’re not here to tell people no, that’s not what we are here for,” Hurd added. “We’re here to assist people to have the opportunity to do what they want to do in the safest fashion that we can give it to them. For these demonstrations, this is something that we would never say no to, but we do need to give some guidance.”

Natives for Black Lives Matter gathered Thursday with a group of more than 100 that marched east on Main Street from Ninth Street to the Nez Perce County Courthouse.

“It’s our job to help protect our fellow brothers and sisters of color,” Cree said, noting he has faced racial profiling and that the Floyd killing was the final breaking point for him. “The George Floyd killing weighed heavily on my heart.”

While the protesters were at the courthouse, Dianne Mallickan said a prayer. Some of the Native American protesters were dressed in traditional garments. Mallickan beat a drum as the group marched.

As a man walked the sidewalk across the street with a rifle strapped to his shoulder, the crowd chanted “Hands up! Don’t Shoot!”

Cree said that as long as injustice continues, they will gather again.

Defend Lewiston Second Amendment rally organizer Heather Rogers, who writes a personal blog called Liberate Idaho, said she is planning to have people armed with guns in downtown Lewiston to protect people and businesses should there be looting, vandalism, rioting or violence.

“We’re not opposing (Black Lives Matter), we are 100 percent for their constitutional First Amendment right to assemble and have a peaceful rally,” Rogers said. “Our main concern is if you’ve watched the news around the country how other groups come in after the protests and they start riots, that was our concern.”

The group hopes to do “exactly what Coeur d’Alene did, the community came together as a community to protect their businesses and their shops and they had armed community members downtown to make sure there was no rioting and looting,” Rogers said.

Another group, which is working with Rogers and operates a Facebook page called Protect the LC Valley, also has similar plans to deter any possible looting or riots from third parties not associated with the local Black Lives Matter Peace Rally by posting three-people teams at intersections and having a couple of vehicles driving around to spot problems.

The group’s page on Facebook is hosted by Clint Heuett and Nick Kress. The plan from the group is to have three person groups “on each intersection in downtown Lewiston and everywhere the protest will be,” Heuett said in a post on the page. Heuett and Kress’ page says they “fully support people showing their opinions and concerns with a peaceful rally,” and they hope to help ensure a peaceful rally happens.

“We support their right to voice their concerns, and we agree with the message they are trying to deliver,” Heuett said. “Our plans are to simply help ensure the safety of our town, our citizens, and the protesters as well.

“A perfect scenario will be the protest happening on the levee bike path as ‘they have planned,’ and no issues,” Heuett said on the group’s page. “Our presence should help deter any looting and rioting, but if that happens we will be there to unite and defend and help our police force protect our town. We have zero desire to be viewed as a threat to any person or protester in any way.”

Heuett also advised people to “be on the lookout for vehicles that appear as rentals from out of town, especially white vans or SUVs with license plates from Illinois or California.”

“Most importantly, we do not plan on initiating any violence or condoning it,” Heuett said. “Our purpose is to have our show of defense keep that from happening. If all goes well, we will just have a nice evening relaxing downtown knowing that we are keeping danger at bay.”

“If we stand united as a community, it’s much harder for outside groups who mean harm to do so,” Kress said. “If you see things that don’t seem right there is nothing wrong with posting pictures and/or contacting law enforcement.”

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.