Editor's note: The second paragraph of this article has been edited to remove the words "automatic weapon" and replace them with "rifle."
BROOKINGS – A downtown demonstration Friday for Justice for Black Lives was peaceful, according to Brookings Police, but stickers promoting white supremacy were posted along the demonstration route.
Several men openly carrying rifles along Main Avenue during and after the march also caused concerns, and many participants believe they were white supremacists there to intimidate the crowd.
The Justice for Black Lives march started about 6 p.m. Friday on the Brookings County Courthouse lawn and moved to the downtown area. Various streets were blocked off because organizers had obtained a parade and road closure permit.
“During the protest itself, there were not any incidents that required our response or a police response. It remained peaceful,” Assistant Chief Derrick Powers said.
“Prior to the protest, we did … locate several stickers that were placed along the protest route,” Powers said.
He said police officers and employees of the city Street Department removed some of the stickers. He didn’t know how many stickers were posted or how many were removed prior to the march.
Citizens were out removing stickers following the march as well.
“We haven’t identified the individuals that had placed those along the route,” Powers said.
“Certainly someone out there was spreading a message of hate prior to that (march), and (that’s) something that we don’t agree with,” Powers said.
Photos submitted to the Register show stickers throughout the downtown area promoting Patriot Front, a white supremacist group in the United States.
This week, The Brookings Register has also found several stickers throughout town promoting a group called the Hundred-Handers, which the Anti-Defamation League says is an international white supremacist group.
There was a police presence during the march and the speeches that took place, Powers said.
“We were ready to respond. Certainly we had planned prior to the event; we had planned leading up to it,” he said.
Other law enforcement agencies were present at the event as well.
Police were aware that, during the demonstration, some individuals were openly carrying guns on Main Avenue, which is legal.
“By South Dakota law, it is an open-carry state, so at that point, we monitored individuals … we monitored the crowd … just to make sure that it remained peaceful,” Powers said.
“Certainly, we weren’t there to interfere with anyone who was exercising their rights,” he added.
He said, as far as the police knew, the men with guns weren’t doing anything illegal and said he could not confirm that they were white supremacists.
“I don’t know, in regard to the individuals that were standing there with guns, what their intent was, standing out there,” Powers said. “Our purpose was to make sure that the protest remained peaceful and during the protest, there was no reason to approach them, ‘cause again, they were exercising their rights.”
“We understand that most people that were there, whether they were part of the protest or that were watching or on the sidewalks, certainly were there for a peaceful event,” Powers said.
The police department stood ready to uphold the values of the City of Brookings, he added.
“I believe for ourselves and what we believe here at the police department and the City of Brookings, understand that we are a very diverse community. We are an inclusive community, and we understand that views of that sort (racist), certainly it creates concerns for us and others in the community,” Powers said.
