“It is our duty to fight for our freedom”, Black Lives Matter Tampa chapter president Donna Davis told the crowd. “I don’t see what Black Lives Matter is doing for blacks other than isolating them”, he said. “African-Americans are absolutely losing their spirit”. It’s another one entirely to decry the entire Black Lives Matter movement as “dangerous paranoia” in a television package that is itself dangerously paranoid. She repeatedly told others to let her finish and said that the issue of black-on-black violence is a red herring when “all communities murder each other”.
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He added that he was there to support the police, who were “risking their lives for us”.
Black Lives Matter protesters condemned the Dallas killings, calling the attack on law enforcement a tragedy not just for those affected but also for the nation.
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The opposed groups were brought together after an hour of protesting on opposite sides of the street. And though he wholly condemned the Dallas shootings, he was also quick to condemn the systematic racism against black people.
Regardless of anyone’s allegiance to the Black Lives Matter protests or police officers, Dr. Williams shared a sentiment most people can agree with: violence is never the answer. “It can mean life or death”.
“The country doesn’t have any spirit”, Trump said.
William Colarulo, the white police superintendent of Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, is equally opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement, which he called a “violent, hateful organization that condones violence against police”. One of the leaders, DeRay Mckesson, unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man injured in police custody.
But he said those individuals were not representative of the rest of the movement.
To ensure the safety of those participating in the rally, Orlando police officers blocked off portions of Rosalind, Orange and Hughey Avenues. “The police need to explain to us their mentality, then, whether we like it or not or disagree, we need to be receptive to listen. All lives matter”, he said Monday.
“I just want the fashion industry and people in general – the majority of the people represented here today – to acknowledge us”.
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A representative from the Black Lives Matter protest and a representative from the counter-protest met each other in the middle and shook hands.
