Protestors at Center Point Dr. and Main St. on Aug. 29 say they gather to hold up signs every Saturday, and were not part of any other organized event. (Metro Wire photo)

SPPD: Large Saturday protests averted, small event peaceful

August 29, 2020August 31, 2020

By Brandi Makuski

Rallies planned to occur in downtown Stevens Point on Saturday were limited to a small gathering along Center Point Dr., a far cry from what some say was planned.

Retired UWSP professor Dan Dietrich helped organize a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest for the morning of Aug. 29 but later canceled the event after some concerns were raised.

“A local organization of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) has indicated their concern for violence, fearing such violence might result in injuries/deaths here and that the optics of an armed confrontation may well hurt their efforts to move our community toward racial justice,” Dietrich said in a social media message. “They’re also concerned that no Black person, Indigenous person, or Person Of Color was involved in the planning of this protest. They would like to have BLM protests have such leadership/involvement.”

Interim Police Chief Tom Zenner on Friday said he had been in contact with several groups throughout the week, some planning to support the BLM cause, others planning to rally for American patriotism.

“They all indicated they were not interested in causing any violence,” Zenner said Friday. “So PD has the situation well in hand.”

According to a Saturday afternoon news release from Lt. Dana Williams, the Aug. 29 protests were limited to a small group of local residents who held an hourlong, silent protest at Center Point Dr. and Main St. The group holds a silent protest every Saturday, and the event ended at 11 a.m., she said.

Downtown Stevens Point was busy Saturday morning, with hundreds filing in and out of the farmers market. As a precaution, plainclothes officers sifted through the crowd, and police squads were seen patrolling throughout the area all morning.

Williams said police departments from UWSP and Plover, the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, the Stevens Point Fire Department, and the city’s streets department also assisted during monitoring the downtown.