Hundreds of people gathered along Route 139 in Marshfield for rallies in support of Back the Blue and Black Lives Matter.
Roughly 500 people took part in the Back the Blue rally, which was organized by Marshfield resident Ashleigh MacKinnon. She wanted to hold the event after negative media coverage towards police.
“These men and women that put on that uniform every day go to work and truly have no idea what they’re going to encounter. They may come home safe, they may not,” said MacKinnon. “I just wanted to bring together the community to show the police officers, look at how much support you do have. Look how much positive support you have. We want to say thank you for everything you do for us.”
Helen Garvey from Norwell feels that police officers should have the resources they need to be protected.
“No one disagrees about equality in this country and what happened to George Floyd was unacceptable and that a policeman like that shouldn’t be on the force,” said Garvey. “It shouldn’t be Blacks versus police. We’re all on the same page. It shouldn’t be, if you love law enforcement, you’re racist. That’s what bothers me.”
Juan Garcia from Rexhame was one of the organizers of the Black Lives Matter counter event. He says there’s a community of pride and that people of color do live in town.
“If it was up to me, as weird as it sounds, we’d all be standing in solidarity on the same side of the street. We do support police as well, but there are some people over there yelling that we don’t matter,” said Garcia. “A lot of people are using that flag to push their own agenda, they’re hiding behind it.”
Ester Wasserman of Marshfield stood in support of Black Lives Matter and feels that Black lives should be represented, heard, and valued.
“It’s really important that these values are present in the town that I live in and that I’m here to represent those values in Marshfield,” said Wasserman. “I believe that we should live in a place where human rights are at the forefront, even if it’s a small town where there’s a majority of white people living here.”
Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares says this was a wonderful day for both sides to express their opinion. He said there were no major incidents during the rallies.
He feels that police have been portrayed negatively after the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis Police custody.
“Something that happened 1,100 miles away, we went from heroes to zeroes overnight by one or four police officers who were involved in what happened in Minneapolis. 1,100 miles away, we had nothing to do with that,” said Tavares. “What we had to endure, we were being painted with the same broad brush that officer was, and I think that was unfair.”
He says the support Sunday was welcome during trying times for police officers.
“Nobody will accept police abuse of powers or police brutality in any way or fashion. We know there needs to be some changes, and we’d like to have an active role in participating in doing so,” said Tavares. “Unfortunately right now, the police reform bill is up before the Conference Committee and law enforcement officials had no input on this.”
The Back the Blue rally was held for two hours on Sunday. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
About 50 people took part in the counter protest for Black Lives Matter. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Hundreds of Back the Blue supporters lined the Furnace Brook Middle School side of Route 139. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Patti and Ed Mederios of Brant Rock joined Back the Blue supporters Sunday. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Marshfield residents Jacqueline Roderick (right) and Julia Ryan (left) stood in support of Black Lives Matter. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Roughly 500 people took part in the Back the Blue rally. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Ester Wasserman (far right) of Marshfield stood in support of Black Lives Matter. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
Black Lives Matter supporters on the Roche Brothers side of Route 139. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
