HARRISBURG – While Saturday’s protest at the Capitol broke into violence, another event held Sunday was calm and much smaller as the organizers spread a message of peace.
And Kevin Maxson, who organized Sunday’s “Please Stop the Violence” rally, did take issue with some of Saturday’s protesters.
Maxson, a candidate for the 103rd District of the state House, said those protesters were “fanning the fires of negativity” and called them cowards for breaking into violence.
About 60 people showed up for Maxson’s rally on the Capitol steps Sunday. He organized it several days ago in response to the killing of 14-year-old Tyrone Gibson on Tuesday, as well as many other young people who lost their lives to violence in Harrisburg.
But after he scheduled today’s rally, another protest he was not affiliated with was held Saturday over the death of George Floyd.
Floyd was suspected of passing a counterfeit bill at a Minneapolis convenience store. He died in police custody after an officer was captured on video kneeling on his neck for several minutes. The Minneapolis officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with manslaughter and third-degree murder.
In the wake of Floyd’s death, protests, some of them turning violent, broke out all around the country.
It’s not yet clear what sparked the clash between protesters and the police in Harrisburg on Saturday, but some witnesses say it happened when the police showed up in riot gear.
At least two officers were hurt and several patrol vehicles were damaged by bricks. Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse and police Commissioner Thomas Carter are expected to address the protest in a virtual press conference at 4 p.m.
Today, the streets around the Capitol were cleared of debris with few signs of the clash less than 24 hours ago.
And while Maxson wasn’t affiliated with Saturday’s protest, some who had attended where there. Many of them high-school aged, they taped “Black Lives Matter” signs all around the Capitol complex.
Protester Derek Marshall, a Cedar Cliff High School sophomore, said there were a lot of emotions on Saturday and he said he witnessed the start of the violence.
“I’d say it was just the cops trying to push us away from where we were,” he said. “I think that’s what started it, and then they started bringing out the pepper spray.”
But Maxson said he takes issue with some of the protesters’ tactics.
“Yesterday’s Black Lives rally was supposed to be a rally based upon peace and principle and highlighting the atrocities in our communities,” he told today’s group gathered around the Capitol steps. “Yet, at some point, some people felt the need for it to end in violence. Why? Why is violence the remedy available at a time when there should be peace?”
The message Maxson wanted to spread is that violence is what has led to the death of so many young people in the Harrisburg community, including Tyrone Gibson. And the cause of violence is poverty, fear and the inability to communicate, which are the issues the community should be standing up to fight against, he said.
And his message was this can be done without violence.
“I spent enough time in funerals, I spent enough time talking to family members and loved ones who, after events such as these, lose focus and don’t know what to do and what to hold on to,” he said. “It’s a waste of life. It’s a waste of community spirit. And it’s a waste of unity.”
Maxson acknowledged his own trouble with the law and time behind bars, which he said inspired him to come out a better person and seek a way to end violence among the youth, and he encouraged them to “spread more smiles than tears.”
He plans to be on the Capitol steps until 6 p.m. to talk to people and answer questions.
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