Local organizers are preparing for another demonstration in Spokane this Sunday to protest the death of George Floyd. Details of the peaceful protest, or an exact location, however, remain unclear.
Authorities, meanwhile, say they're aware of the event and plan to allow organizers to exercise their rights as long as the event remains nonviolent.
An online event listing on Facebook titled "#GeorgeFloyd Peaceful Protest" had registered close to 800 planned attendees, with 1,600 more people saying they were interested in the event, as of Wednesday evening. The event, which was being organized by Occupy Spokane's Facebook page, is slated to start at 2 p.m.
Organizers hadn't provided any specifics of Sunday's protest, the location, or where demonstrators could march to.
In an online message to KREM, users with Occupy Spokane said that they sought to "bring this community back together." The Facebook page didn't respond to a message seeking further clarification of Sunday's event.
On the event page, Occupy Spokane posted that the group was working with Spokane's NAACP chapter to plan Sunday's event and that the two groups had coordinated last Sunday's protest in Spokane as well.
The Spokane NAACP chapter had also shared the Facebook event for Sunday's protest to their page.
Both authorities and city officials told KREM that they were monitoring the planned peaceful demonstration and were making plans to ensure safety at the event.
Brian Coddington, the city's communications director, told KREM that Spokane police officers were planning to observe Sunday's event from a distance and not infringe on the rights of anyone participating. Coddington said that the city was asking participants to be respectful like the initial group that start last Sunday's peaceful protest.
Should violence or property damage occur on Sunday, though, officers would be ready to respond.
Coddington said that the city is always mindful of property damage and that officers would step in if violence happened.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich told KREM that his office was in a full planning phase with the city of Spokane to prepare for Sunday's peaceful protest.
On Wednesday, social media posts began circulating that showed an alleged Spokane Neo-Nazi calling for a "counter protest to Black lives matter and antifa" for Sunday's event. A tweet about the counter-protest from writer Nick Martin, who authors an online publication about hate and extremism in America, had received over 1,000 retweets as of Wednesday evening.
Sheriff Knezovich responded to Martin's tweet writing that if the white nationalist were to show up "and cause any problems he and his friends will find themselves in the Spokane County Jail."
Knezovich verified his comments with KREM on Wednesday, saying that if groups came to the peaceful protest to start trouble, they would be arrested.
Referencing the potential for counter-protesters to show up and remain peaceful, however, Knezovich pointed out that "the first amendment works for everybody, whether we like it or not."
Occupy Spokane posted on the protest's Facebook event page that organizers were making safety plans in light of a planned counter-protest.