Visit Occidental Dissent for a transcript of the speech…
This evening's "Hoosiers for Heroes" rally was a sweeping success. Our crowd of roughly 20 supporters reached dozens of folks walking in downtown Indianapolis with our message of support for Officer Piland. We reached hundreds of motorists with over an hour of picketing on Meridian Street. We reached thousands more with our coverage in the Indianapolis Star:
About a dozen people gathered Downtown on Obelisk Square, at Meridian and North streets, to protest Sharpton’s appearance in Indianapolis. The protest was organized by the Council of Conservative Citizens, formed two years ago and with about 50 members now, according to Matt Parrott of Carmel, the group’s community organizer.
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The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks tonight at Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis. – Jennifer Cecil / The Star |
We counted 20 men and women whose names we know and whose hands we shook, and that's not including the passersby who stopped to listen to us and interact with us throughout the event. The Star's own photographs will corroborate that. Technically, we weren't exactly "protesting Al Sharpton's appearance", we were protesting Chief Ciesielski's decision to recommend Officer Piland for termination because of Sharpton, many other "spiritual leaders" in the local Black community, and the witch hunting local media. The Council of Conservative Citizens was actually formed decades ago, It's our statewide Indiana Chapter that was reactivated about a year ago.
The group objects to the discipline meted out to the officers involved in the Brandon Johnson beating.
The protest originally was to be held at Wes Montgomery Park, a half-mile north of Eastern Star Church in a mostly black neighborhood, but then moved the event Downtown. A few pedestrians who happened upon the protest listened briefly but did not stay.
I was prevailed upon by loved ones and security professionals to relocate to a venue that wasn't as prone to race riots as the neighborhood Sharpton was speaking in. Out of concern for the safety of our supporters, we relocated to Indy's beautiful and busy Indiana War Memorial park. Even there, we had six officers from both the IMPD and the State committed to securing our event.
We're very grateful to the supporters who were brave enough to join us this evening. We're very grateful to the supporters whose contributions have almost completely covered the costs of hosting the event. We're very grateful to the officers for assuring our safety at the event. We look forward to this event inspiring as many Hoosiers as possible to join us as advocates for our heritage and our way of life.
