MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — One of the most active areas for peaceful protests in West Virginia since the death of George Floyd has been Morgantown. Another protest took place Saturday morning.
Morgantown Interim Police Chief Eric Powell for the most part of the protests have remained peaceful but there was some frustration voiced at a protest back on Thursday.
“Confrontations with motorists that wanted to get through that were becoming frustrated about not being able to travel their route or having to wait in traffic for an excessive period of time,” Powell told MetroNews affiliate WAJR Radio.
Powell said the message of protests can become distorted when tensions spike. He said has been planning its response if the protests take a turn.
“We’ve already made contact with other agencies in the city to support us with barriers and things,” Powell said.
Powell said the police presence isn’t to suppress the protesters but to protect them.
“As long as it is peaceful and remains peaceful, the least amount of contact we can have the better it is,” Powell said. “When we’re there things seem to escalate and when things escalate and emotions run high that’s when you have property damage and violence.”