The rally was intended to show solidarity with the minority black community in Bethel, a mostly white town of about 2,800 people 30 miles east of Cincinnati, she added.
But the small group of protesters were overwhelmed when roughly 700 counter-protesters turned up to show their opposition to the kind of rallies and marches against racism and police brutality sweeping the nation since the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in May.
Because of tension and intimidation on Sunday, Gee said in a Facebook live video posted Monday that she did not plan to schedule another demonstration. “I want us to heal, I want our community to heal, I want peace and love to be spread,” she said. “And I’m worried that what we saw yesterday with more counter-protesters coming out – I’m worried that’s going to happen again.”
By Monday evening, Bethel mayor Jay Noble imposed a 9pm curfew, citing “the threat of continued and escalating violence.”
Gee urged supporters to “not come to Bethel right now”, in a chilling echo of so-called “sundown towns” – majority-white towns where black people were evicted, barred from buying property, and banned after dark by threat of violence earlier in the 20th century.
“It is not a time for any type of Black Lives Matter supporters to be in Bethel right now,” Gee said. “It’s not safe.”
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New sundown town emerges
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