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George Floyd: Planned demonstration in Dayton featuring armed marchers has been canceled

DAYTON — A demonstration in Dayton planned for Saturday, which would have featured armed marchers, has been canceled, its organizer said late Friday afternoon.

Organizer Alec Livada said the demonstration to push for policy changes regarding police accountability was scuttled because his group and other political organizers felt the city is still healing from the Oregon District shooting, and marchers brandishing weapons likely would have detracted from the message of the event and drawn counter-protesters.

Livada, a veteran U.S. Navy corpsman from Dayton said his group -- “A group of liberty minded people” -- planned to walk from Dragons stadium to the federal building. The point, he said, was an attempt to “re-establish trust and understanding on both sides: the citizenry and law enforcement.”

Livada said his group was expecting 10 to 20 people to participate and thinks attendance plummeted when they switched to conceal and carry event from an open-carry one.

“If anybody shows up armed, it is not our organization,” he said.

Another reason for the cancellation is that the city is planning a public policy meeting, set for two weeks from now, Livada said. He plans to participate and submit a six-point proposal he said calls for changes that may go a long way to restoring American dignity and re-establishing trust for everyone:

  • Safety (eliminating CS gas, pepper spray and any other chemical irritant from law enforcement doctrine)
  • Hiring (law enforcement officers that have a pattern of violence, excessive force or brutality should be immediately suspended)
  • Officer care (paying attention to the mental health of officers)
  • Measured responses (standardizing proper rules of engagement regarding use of force authorizations)
  • Accountability (Including third party, independent investigatory bodies in addition to singular internal affairs investigations)
  • Service Orientation (Requiring officers to volunteer)




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