Peaceful protesters support BLM in Tulsa

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Jared Porter | CNHI News Oklahoma
Jun 20, 2020 Updated 45 min ago

TULSA, Okla. — As supporters poured into the BOK Center for President Donald Trump’s campaign rally late Saturday afternoon in Tulsa, a crowd of about 100 people in support of the Black Lives Matter movement gathered a mile away at Franklin Hope Reconciliation Park to peacefully protest the timing of the rally, while voicing messages of unity and racial equality ...

“We’re here to speak against hate and racism,” Johnson said. “It’s about different people of different races, genders, ages and backgrounds coming together to say that Black lives matter. For all lives to matter, Black lives have to be included… There are a lot of things going on with historic significance right now. This is a very, very critical moment. By Mr. Trump choosing to have his campaign rally today, it doesn’t set right with me because it still interferes with the celebration of Juneteenth. We don’t see that as a representation of love” ...

Several members of the Tulsa community spoke to the crowd at Reconciliation Park about systemic racism and police brutality toward people of color. Several attendees donned yellow umbrellas with the names of Black individuals who had died in altercations with police officers. The umbrellas were eventually grouped together for display near the entrance to the park.

The crowd was also treated to a free meal and live music. Many of the attendees displayed signs and took part in chants such as “Black Lives Matter,” “I can’t breathe,” “No justice, no peace,” and “Trump leave town” ...

https://www.enidnews.com/news/state/peaceful-protesters-support-black-lives-matter-in-tulsa-amid-trump-rally/article_cce07cd3-8a33-5d53-ade6-7062383e3c79.html

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1. Campaign blames protesters for disappointing turnout

... Trump skipped a planned appearance outside of the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla., which Campaign Spokesman Tim Murtaugh blamed on "radical protestors, coupled with a relentless onslaught from the media," who "attempted to frighten off the President’s supporters" ...

Reporters on the scene .. denied seeing large numbers of people turned away from the overflow stage. Inside the 20,000-person BOK Center, meanwhile, whole sections of the arena remained empty. Health experts had issued increasingly stark warnings in the lead up to the rally, while a June 15 editorial in the Tulsa World argued it was "the wrong time" to hold a campaign gathering ...

While trying to sidestep the politics of the rally, local health officials continued to remind Oklahoma residents and other rallygoers of the dangers of large-scale events during the Covid-19 pandemic. “As outlined by the CDC, individuals looking to attend any large-scale gathering will face an increased risk of becoming infected with Covid-19 and becoming a transmitter of this novel virus,” a spokesman for the Oklahoma State Department of Health said in a statement ahead of the event ...

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/20/trump-rally-tulsa-coronavirus-reset-2020-campaign-330248

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2. Calls protesters 'thugs' despite peaceful demonstrations

By Nicole Chavez and Ray Sanchez, CNN
Updated 10:53 PM ET, Sat June 20, 2020

... There were large groups of protesters in downtown Tulsa near the site of the rally, police said, but they were demonstrating peacefully.

"There are multiple groups of demonstrators with varying viewpoints in the area adjacent to the rally," the Tulsa Police Department tweeted. "Overwhelmingly these encounters have been peaceful with everyone attempting to share their views."

Earlier, the Trump campaign blamed what they described as "radical protesters" for preventing people from entering the rally. Several CNN teams in Tulsa did not see any of that type of activity ...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/20/us/nationwide-protests-saturday/index.html

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3. John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park

Not Franklin Hope

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5. Thanks!

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4. Returns to campaign trail with routine speech

June 20, 2020, 7:17 PM EDT / Updated June 20, 2020, 11:00 PM EDT
By Dartunorro Clark, Susan Kroll and Monica Alba

... "We begin! We begin! We begin our campaign," Trump said to applause. "I stand before you today to declare the Silent Majority is stronger than ever before!" ...



https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-tulsa-holds-first-rally-months-amid-tense-political-backdrop-n1231652