Update 1:45 p.m. — On Sunday afternoon, Port City Daily spoke with the original organizer of the event, who asked to remain anonymous.
According to the organizer, the suggestions to preserve anonymity and avoid filming stemmed from concerns over protestors being identified from video and later targeted; the organizer cited the deaths of six black men with ties to protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where 18-year-old Michael Brown, a black teenager, was shot by a white officer.
The organizer said there was absolutely no involvement or engagement with right-wing or anarchist groups and that the sole intention of the event was a peaceful protest.
The organizer also noted that there was no affiliation between the original event and the Facebook group Black Lives Matter Wilmington (a new group which is not affiliated with the more established BLM group for Wilmington, and which now appears to be in the process of being deleted). According to the organizer, the Facebook group was run by two UNCW students of color, who had no nefarious intent, but who did not coordinate with the original event in any way.
WILMINGTON — A protest scheduled for Sunday evening in front of City Hall has been canceled, but questions remain about who was planning it and why. Community leaders have said the event was not endorsed by or affiliated with local civil rights groups like Black Lives Matter or the NAACP — one leader has called attention to ‘red flags’ raised by the event.
The Wilmington Police Department confirmed on Sunday morning that the event was not affiliated with local groups; the department is currently looking into the situation and will release more information if it becomes available.
Earlier this weekend, notices circulated on Instagram and Facebook for the “peaceful protest” in front of City Hall from 6 – 9 p.m. The protest, like the one held on Saturday in downtown Wilmington, was ostensibly to call for accountability in the killing of George Floyd.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, after police officers arrested him on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes while he called out in pain and eventually passed out. Chauvin and three other officers on the scene have been fired, but only Chauvin has been arrested; Chauvin now faces 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Unlike Saturday’s protest, questions about the origin and purpose of the now-cancelled event have circulated rapidly on social media.
Now-deleted posts called for protestors to arrive and stay until after sundown, wearing all black, covering their faces and tattoos, and refraining from filming. Most other peaceful protests have been scheduled for during the day. Few other protests have encouraged anonymity and, given the sensitivity of police reaction to protests and the need for accountability, few organizers would encourage protestors not to be able to film protests.
New Hanover County NAACP President Deboard Dicks Maxwell took to Facebook to address these issues.
On Saturday evening, Maxwell wrote:
Listen carefully: The event being held tomorrow is not being hosted by the people who had today’s event.
Red Flags: why do they want you in all black with the sun going down. Why no filming and to cover your face and tattoos? Who are you hiding from? If we are being peaceful don’t we want the world to know?. Why did I wait and still waiting for an answer about who was doing event? And I asked on the Being Black Page. Why did they cut out comments from the page they made in the LAST 24 hours like Black Live Matter? If you are adult enough to schedule please consider being mature enough to answer. The sun goes down at 8:15 so what are you going to do in the dark? Given everything that has been going on across the Carolinas if you attend leave before the sun goes down for your safety.
Why start so late? Do you want the cover of darkness?
Y’all gonna do what you want but let the attendee beware. Trust me, I’m not hating because many of you have attended rallies, marches and even traveled with me for justice across this state. All I want is PEACE4THEPORT and if you want it consider what I said. And I am Deborah Dicks Maxwell, President, New Hanover County NAACP.
