Governor Holcomb, public safety officials address weekend protests

INDIANAPOLIS—Governor Eric Holcomb held a press conference on Monday with public safety officials to address the weekend's protests.

While many of the protests around the state remained peaceful, such as those in South Bend, Elkhart, Michigan City and more, police were called to protests elsewhere around the state.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter spoke on behalf of state police.

“We must acknowledge our past, we must understand our mistakes in my profession and we must take a step forward and if we don’t, we will never heal as time goes on,” Carter said.

Col. R. Dale Lyles spoke at the press conference and provided an update to the Indiana National Guard’s response.

On Saturday, the Indiana National Guard’s Reactionary Force was placed on standby to provide support to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police, Indiana State Police and law enforcement agencies around the state.

The reactionary force was not called out Saturday but was deployed on Sunday to downtown Indianapolis to protect historic monuments, Lyles said.

Damage was done on Saturday to some downtown Indianapolis monuments, officials said.

Fort Wayne also saw assistance deployed by the Indiana National Guard over the weekend.

The Indiana National Guard will continue assisting in the state’s COVID-19 response but stands ready to assist local communities, Lyles said.