Highland youth collaborate with police to organize peaceful Black Lives Matter protest
Around 70 people gathered around the fountain at Plaza Square in Highland on Tuesday night, taking a moment of silence, raising their fists and kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
The group, made up mostly of Highland youth, were there to honor George Floyd, the black man who was killed in Minnesota last week when police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for the same amount of time.
The Highland Black Lives Matter protest was organized by Jillian Garbett, Kat Miller and Tina Kernan, who made a Facebook post Tuesday at noon asking residents of the town to gather at 7:15 p.m. to march to the square in protest of police brutality.
Garbett said that she made the Facebook post on a whim the day of because she felt inspired by the events over the last week, and wanted to protest injustices she’s seen in her own town.
“Highland is very racist and that needs to change,” she said. “It’s our jobs to stand up for our brothers and sisters when we can.”
Garbett said she only expected a few people to show up to the protest, but was proud when word spread on social media and many people showed up.
The post reached people who live outside Highland who showed up to offer support.
Micah Rush, of Breese, brought her 4-year-old son with her to the protest. She said they had arrived from a trip to Florida that day and she immediately got in the car and drove up to Highland when the plane arrived so they could be a part of it.
“I brought him here because he’s our future and we need to protect him,” she said. “I love seeing the support for us ... people realizing it’s about loving the whole human race.”
Lydia Shalanko, of Greenville, also drove in to Highland just to join the protest. She said that when her daughter shared the Facebook post with her earlier that day, she felt compelled.
“I wanted to say I believe that black lives matter,” she said. “I want black folks to know that they are supported when their house is on fire.”
When Highland Police Chief Chris Conrad caught wind of the Facebook post, he reached out to Garbett to offer police cars to block off roads so protesters could have a safe route to walk from Highland Elementary School to the square. He also shared information about the protest on the city’s social media pages.
“It was very helpful for us,” Garbett said of the collaboration. “The police were supportive of our peaceful protest and for that, we’re grateful.”
When the protest arrived at Plaza Square, Conrad joined the moment of silence by taking a knee with the crowd.
He said seeing the video of Floyd’s death would affect anyone with a heart.
“I think anybody who watched that video, if they had a heart at all, had a visceral reaction to it,” Conrad said. “I just wanted them to understand we agree … and that there’s a lot more common ground than people think.”
Conrad said he was proud of how the community and protesters acted during the walk.
“It was very peaceful and they were very respectful,” he said. “These folks had a message that they wanted the community to hear and I’m proud of the way they did it.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 10:19 PM.
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