JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As thousands of people prepare to participate in No Kings protests across the country, here in Jacksonville, protest organizers have one concern on their mind…safety.
Protest organizers sent a letter to Jacksonville city leaders and JSO expressing their concerns ahead of the protests.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
It reads in part:
“We are gravely concerned about threats stimulated by rhetoric at the national level and the heightened potential for violence by groups seeking to disrupt local No Kings Day events. We are calling upon you, as Jacksonville’s civic and law enforcement leaders, to honor and protect our First Amendment rights, and ensure no violence is tolerated by those seeking to disrupt these lawful protests.”
Katie Chorbak is the President of 50501 Veterans, one of the groups organizing the protests. She says they just want to make sure their rights are protected, too.
“With the rhetoric being put out by the administration of, you know, the other side being Hamas terrorists and undocumented immigrants, we just felt like it was going to incite a swath of individuals to show up and to not be happy and maybe incite violence,” said Chorbak.
We reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to get a response to this. They replied, saying:
“JSO is aware of the plans and is devoting resources to make sure that everyone is safe. We respect the constitutional right to protest peacefully and remind everyone that if they see something suspicious, they should report it immediately.”
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
