Bozeman Black Lives Rally; What I Observed

Like many in the community, I was curious as to what would take place at the National Day of Action for Black Lives Rally in Bozeman on Friday. I decided to shoot a Facebook Live for our XL Country Facebook page so that our radio audience, who did not attend, could view and judge the event on their own by watching live or later on video. I was there neither to promote nor to condemn the event. My intention was strictly to chronicle it.

Here are three of my takeaways from the hour that I spent there:

1) I thought the organizers of the rally did a very good job of promoting a peaceful event. They went out of their way at the beginning to let those in attendance know that they did not promote violence nor did they want it to be any part of their event. That thought was clearly and emphatically stated at the outset.

2) I did not see one law enforcement officer. There was no police "presence" at all. I'm sure they were there, but certainly not in a heavy-handed sort of way. Local law enforcement allowed the organizers and attendees room to express themselves.

3) The vibe, and again this is my take, was more of curiosity than outrage. Now, I was only there for the first 25 minutes, so this may have changed. However, what I experienced was never tense, heavy, or overly fervent.

Below you can watch the Facebook Live footage of the first twenty minutes or so of the rally.