Rally remains peaceful despite displays of guns, anger, alcohol

By Linda Trest, Staff Writer
Posted 9/3/20

This Sheryl Crow fan (above) was one of the loudest voices in opposition at the Desegregation/Integration Rally held Saturday afternoon in Gerald’s Legion Park. Clyde Zelch (above right) was …

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Rally remains peaceful despite displays of guns, anger, alcohol

Posted

A tense atmosphere marked the beginning of a Desegregation/Integration Rally held Saturday afternoon in Gerald’s Legion Park.

Many people from Gerald, Rosebud and Owensville lined the western side of the park where several vehicles sported flags, including the Confederate battle flag. This group, the home team, sported White Lives Matter shirts or wore gear indicating support of the president. Many openly carried sidearms, one man had a hatchet sheathed on his belt, another strutted through the crowd carrying a large Confederate battle flag.

The visitors, were led by the organizers of the event Alexandria Gray and her brother, Anthony Collins. A few locals stood with this smaller group.

Crowd size was hard to determine as people came and went throughout the event.

A large police presence was in place including the Gerald Police Department and a contingent from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Troopers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol were in place along the highway.

Sheriff Steve Pelton said his deputies were there to support everyone’s first amendment rights.

Collins, who was injured in a hit-and-run accident in late July, attended in a wheelchair. Several from the home team loudly questioned why he didn’t stand to address them. He told The Republican his purpose was to start a dialog —open and honest-—that will smooth out some of the issues we see.

The two organizers reported that after the Gerald event was published on Facebook, more threats were made against them than from any other of the six events they have already hosted.

Four men were posted up in front of the Veteran’s Memorial in Gerald’s Legion Park awaiting the beginning of the event publicized as a Desegregation/Integration Rally.

Raymond Bay of Gerald said he was in that particular spot to be sure that, “Nothing is defaced,” as he motioned toward the memorial. The memorial in question was missing one of the service flags, another was so tattered the edge had come apart from the flag itself, another hung by only one grommet. Bay admitted the memorial was already in a state of disrepair.

Dennis Vickers from Owensville was there to support the constitutional right to assemble peacefully. “I’m here to stand up for the constitution,” he said, noting that he teaches constitutional classes at a church south of Gerald.

Sitting under the pavilion as the event began, it was hard to ignore the remarks made by the crowd from the home team there.

Rob Comptom from the visiting team was one of the first to speak, “In certain places, people of color are not welcome. Whether welcome or not, no one has the right to call them the N word.”

A man under the pavilion disagreed shouting “It’s America!”

“All lives matter,” yelled another.

“Go home,” another said just loud enough for his cohorts to hear and chuckle in agreement.

Collins told the group the organizers were in no way affiliated with Black Lives Matter, but they support the effort. This led to much dissension from the home team. “We are here to show that we share the same concerns as you, but we aren’t welcome here,” he went on.

“You’re right, you not welcome,” a man shouted as he looked around for affirmation from his group.

The event soon devolved into so much heckling from the visitors that Sheriff Pelton took the microphone. “Everyone has a constitutional right to be heard,” he told the crowd. “Instead of yelling, be respectful.”

As the crowd palpably calmed after Pelton’s remarks, several began leaving. Some of the most vocal remained.

A man from St. Charles, with the visiting team, spoke of being a racist for years. When he objected to a black man participating in a support group of which he was a member, the leader told him to get over it. “We are here to breed love,” the leader told him. “And that’s why were here today, to breed love,” the visitor concluded.

Gray, who grew up in Union, Pacific and St. Clair, told the crowd that although she now lived in the city, she was a country girl at heart. Many of the home team snickered. “I will be back,” she promised, “even if it is only to fish.”

“Go home!” a man from the home team shouted to a spattering of applause from his colleagues.

“My dad died in January,” she went on. “I grieve just as you do, I bleed just as you do.”

As the National Anthem was played, two from the vocal home crowd remained seated.

When the event officially ended, several people from both sides approached the organizers. Gray and Collins spoke one on one with each of them. A young black woman stood in the corner with tears in her eyes. “How can they yell such things at us?” she asked. “They don’t even know me. I’m a college-educated woman with three children. I work hard and take good care of my kids.” She repeated, “How can they yell such things at me when they don’t even know me.” No one could answer.

As she began packing up, Gray also was tearful. Asked how she felt the event turned out she replied, “Good.” She noted that at the end, several people from the home team thanked her for coming. “We had some good dialogue and I feel some hearts and minds were changed today.”

“That’s all we can ask,” her brother Collins replied. “One heart and mind at a time.”