WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police are prepared for Saturday’s Black Lives Matter march in downtown Winston-Salem to protest police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota, police Chief Barry Rountree told the Winston-Salem Journal Friday.
“Based on what we know, we will have appropriate personnel on hand for people to exercise their right to protest,” Rountree said.
Rountree talked about the march in the wake of at least one gunman shooting five police officers and wounding seven others Thursday night in Dallas during a Black Lives Matter protest. The protests are over the fatal police shootings of two black men, Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., on Tuesday and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Wednesday.
Rountree said he didn’t know the exact location of the march, which begins at 3:30 p.m.
“All we can do is to be as prepared as possible and respond to any situation that comes up,” Rountree said.