A crowd of more than 300 people gathered in front of the Stillwater Police Department Wednesday morning to peacefully protest the death of George Floyd.
The protest was organized by two community members, with support from several black student associations at Oklahoma State University, and featured speeches by leaders with the Oklahoma City chapter of Black Lives Matter.
One speaker encouraged the crowd to go beyond just posting on social media and work to make race issues better. Another talked about how fed up he was about racial inequities in America.
Organizers were also mindful of COVID-19, encouraging protesters to wear masks and practice social distancing.
Ahead of the protest, Stillwater’s Chief of Police Jeff Watts released a statement saying he fully supported citizens’ right to protest peacefully and would not tolerate anyone who sought to undermine their hard work and good intentions.
One person, identified by The Oklahoman as Christopher Autrey, a member of the Three Percenters organization, carried a rifle at the rally. He said he was there to prevent looting and that he was hired by the Police Department for security. Stillwater Police deny this.
Watts later told The Oklahoman that while what Autrey did was not illegal, all it's doing is inviting conflict.
“Anytime you bring a firearm into a protest — it doesn’t matter who brings it — you have a lot of emotion, a lot of frustration,” Watts said. “People are angry, they’re venting. That is never the place for a weapon.”
