Video: Two Peaceful Rallies Set To Take Place This Weekend

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) — It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend in Tupelo with two competing rallies Saturday.

The “Our Lives Matter” organization and the Confederate United Patriots Society are both hosting rallies.

The June 18th shooting death of 37-year old Antwun Shumpert, still lingers over the city of Tupelo, causing separation for some.

“I think the city us divided not only racially, but also from a socioeconomic standpoint, and I think once we recognize there are some divisions, we’ll be much closer to trying to bridge those gaps,” said James Hull, spokesman for the Coalition of Concerned Pastors and Leaders.

Now,  The “Our Lives Matter” organization will hold a peaceful unity march to try to bridge those gaps.

“The purpose of the march is to spread awareness about how the police handle the community and public in general, it’s not a black and white thing,” said David Jones, organizer of the  “Unity in the Community”  march.

David Jones said he’s hoping to see over a thousand people at the rally.

“People dealing with their jobs they have, I understand the position that they hold, and they got to make sure they take care of home, and their family, and can’t put themselves in that situation so I will speak for them,” said Jones.

He said the ultimate goal of the march is to have all Tupelo residents come together as one.

“For me, the purpose of having everyone get together and realizing that as far as we’re spread there’s nothing going to get done,” said Jones. “Everything is always one sided or everybody feels like they’re not getting a fair share, but if we all come together we can end that whole conversation.”

But they aren’t the only ones rallying Saturday.

The Confederate United Patriots Society will have a rally standing up for the state flag.

“When this all came out about the man getting shot, the black man getting shot by the white co, it stirred up a lot of controversy and the first attack that Carlos Moore did was the state flag,” said Bryant Hargroue,member of the Confederate United Patriots Society.

Society members said the flag represents their heritage and they don’t want it removed.

“That’s what our group is, we stand for our flag, and our rights,” said Hargroue. “It’s all about heritage, it has nothing to do with hate and racism, and all of the other things you hear in the media.”

Though both groups are different, they share one common goal, to have a peaceful rally.

“This is a peaceful protest,” said Jones. I don’t want any violence that’s not what I want to spread. Peaceful, unity, community.”

The Unity in the Community rally will begin at 10:30 A.M. It will start at the BancorpSouth Arena, and end at Tupelo city hall.

The Flag rally will begin at 1:30 P.M. and will be held at Ballard Park.