BUFFALO, N.Y. — Residents gathered Tuesday evening in North Buffalo in support of Black Lives Matter, while condemning the acts of racism that happened during a similar protest on Friday.
The idea for the event was sparked after Friday night's incident where two men threatened and directed racial slurs toward protesters. The incident is still under investigation, but one Cattaraugus County man has been charged with a hate crime in connection to the event.
Around 5:30 p.m. protesters met at the North Park Community School where they marched from the school to the corner of Parkside and Hertel Avenues, which is where the incident happened.
It was an overall peaceful protest; however, there were some tense moments when protestors were confronted by a group of patrons at M T Pockets Bar on Hertel Avenue.
Ali Ingersoll, a reporter at our nonprofit partners Investigative Post, captured cell phone video of the bar saying the patio was very crowded, adding that some of the patrons were shouting various racial slurs toward the protesters.
Eventually Buffalo Police came in and separated the two groups before protestors left.
2 On Your Side spoke with Amanda Crotty, an organizer of the event, on Tuesday before the rally.
"We just said you know what this is our neighborhood and we want to speak out against hate and violence and get back on message as to what Black Lives Matter is really about," she said.
2 On Your Side's Jeff Preval asked Crotty, "Even though the person responsible lives in Cattaraugus County do you think this whole incident has given North Buffalo a bad reputation?"
"No I don't, I think that the fact that so many of us are coming together in support of those advocating for social justice I think that is a testament to our community," Crotty said. "People I think are misinformed about what Black Lives Matter is it's not a hate group it's not advocating against anyone it's simply saying we're not all treated the same unfortunately in our community."
She hopes the rally can be a conversation starter.
"I hope that more people will feel invited into the dialogue and the conversation and really taken an opportunity to listen to the voices of people of color," Crotty said.
Crotty said she is pleased that charges have been filed in connection to Friday’s act of racism.
There have been a lot of questions as to why police did not move in and arrest Michael Cremen, 47, immediately — police have said officers did the right thing in monitoring the situation and officers would've moved in had it got violent.
