Counter-Protester Arrested At Peabody Demonstration

PEABODY, MA — Police arrested one person in Peabody Square during a Black Lives Matter protest Friday evening.

Myra L. Reyes, 64, of Peabody was charged with disorderly conduct, according to the Peabody police log. other details about her arrest were not immediately available.

Two witnesses said Reyes was a counter-protester who chanted “white lives matter.” Patch has asked Peabody police for more details and will update this story when we hear back from him.

More than 200 people gathered on the sidewalk outside Peabody District Court. The protest took shape after the organizer of a protest that had been originally scheduled for Thursday decided to postpone it "after careful consideration of some of the risks associated with the" demonstration.

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Organizers for both demonstrations said they were peaceful protests in response to last week's death of a black man in custody of Minneapolis police. Since Memorial Day, there have been protests in U.S. cities over the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in the custody of the Minneapolis police.

Video clips posted to social media showed a mostly peaceful demonstration featuring speakers and chants in Peabody Square. At one point some members of the crowd jeered a police officer who refused to kneel down.