Three groups meet in La Porte for peaceful demonstrations

LA PORTE, Ind.- Three protest groups gathered outside the La Porte County Courthouse Friday for peaceful demonstrations: two Black Lives Matter groups and a group of Donald Trump supporters.

The two Black Lives Matter groups joined together for one large protest calling for justice in the wake of George Floyd's death while in Minneapolis police custody.

While much of the afternoon saw the Black Lives Matter protesters and the Donald Trump supporters trading playful jabs, the day remained largely non-confrontational, and that's just how the Black Lives Matter protest organizers wanted it.

"We were adamant in everything we post to put in big and bold letters 'Peaceful,'" protest co-organizer Marik Leonheart said. "So, we had no issues with those across the street."

Those across the street were the Trump supporters who said they had a message to spread as well.

"What we're really here supporting today is Donald Trump as our President and the police departments that have been just hammered by the leftist Democratic Party," Trump Supporter Randall W. England said.

The Black Lives Matter protesters gathered outside the County Courthouse, marched across the Indiana Avenue Bridge, then around the corner to Michigan Avenue where protest leaders and La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody spoke to the crowd.

"People were making their voices heard all day," said Black Lives Matter protest co-organizer Austen Wood. "No negative interactions with anybody. There were Trump supporters across the street with name calling, but other than that, it went absolutely perfect."

Police were at the protest as well as a precaution in case someone did try to disrupt the peaceful theme of the protest.

After the presenters spoke to the crowd, the crowd all got on a knee as a show of solidarity to George Floyd. Many of the officers, deputies and troopers there got on a knee as well.