CLEARFIELD – This is what a peaceful protest looks like.
After rumors of “buses” of people coming from Philadelphia to join a protest at the Clearfield County Courthouse spread through town Friday causing fear, several downtown businesses closed their doors early.
But no buses came. There were no angry confrontations, looting or violence.
Instead about a hundred citizens peacefully voiced their concerns about racial injustice and especially the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
Most wore masks and there was some attention paid to social distancing.
It started at 3 p.m. and hit its peak attendance around 4 p.m. with the crowd starting to dwindle after 5 p.m.
Although there were only a few African-American faces in the crowd, the support for them was strong.
Holding signs with “silence is not an option,” “unite Clearfield County against racism” and “hate does not make America great,” the crowd chanted “all lives don’t matter until black lives matter” and “no justice, no peace.”
Passing motorists often honked in support, causing the whole crowd to respond with cheers.
Not everyone agreed, and some shouted their opposing opinions from their vehicles as they passed.
The most touching moment came when everyone went down on one knee in complete silence for over eight minutes to equal the time a police officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck.
The event was organized by Joshua and George Thomas Francis Maney of Clearfield.
When asked why they did it, Joshua explained that he “didn’t see anyone else doing it.”
He commented that he has seen the way his friends of color are treated and said “it is time for a change.”
“People don’t want to live with racism, they want it to end,” he said.
Not everyone at the protest was supporting the movement. There were stragglers at the edges and across the street, just watching.
A few people were there for a different sort of support. They attended to “protect” the protestors in case some other groups with thoughts of violence and looting tried to crash the party, showing unity for the community.
When one man shouted at the group “blue lives matter,” George approached the man. After a few minutes of conversation, they shook hands and parted.
“I wanted to try to have a civil discourse,” George said after the encounter.
The man asked what rights black people didn’t have and George tried to explain how they aren’t always treated the same as white people. But the man wouldn’t let him really make his point, so George decided to just shake his hand and walk away.
People need to have open minds and learn why we work for the issues we care about and “we need to learn about the issues they care about”, he said.
“We need to find middle ground. Nothing changes until we do that.
“I have been trying to say things the right way to get others to see my points,” George said, but admitted “I still have things to learn too.”
As for any thoughts of rioting and looting, “I love this town and do not want to see it looted.”
Even though George said they had “never done this before,” their organizing skills were quite good.
There was water on hand along with snacks such as fruit for the crowd. They also supplied candles for a candle light vigil honoring George Floyd at 8 p.m.
George and Joshua with volunteers planned to stay after the event to clean up any garbage left behind.
“I don’t want to see this town littered,” George said.