Peabody Officials Praise Organizers Of Peaceful Protest

PEABODY, MA — Peabody officials are praising organizers' efforts in Saturday's rally at Emerson Park.

It was the second time in as many weeks Peabody hosted peaceful demonstrations of the death of 46-year-old George Floyd, who died May 25 while handcuffed by Minneapolis police officers. In a statement Monday, Peabody Police Chief Thomas Griffin called it a "powerful morning" and said it was "awesome to see so many people using their voice to bring about positive change."

"I feel I can speak for every Peabody Police Officer when I say that we not only condemn the murder of Mr. George Floyd by Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, we condemn all forms of police brutality and racism," Griffin said. "We work hard to respond to the needs of all the citizens of Peabody and will continue to work with the community to make everyone feel safe and comfortable in our city."

The rally was spearheaded by Nicolas Blaisdell, a 22-year-old Peabody resident who teaches high school English in Revere. Blaisdell had originally planned his rally for June 4 but postponed it to work out logistics with city officials. When Blaisdell announced the postponement, another group held a demonstration downtown on June 5.

Speaking at Saturday's rally, Mayor Ted Bettencourt called the earlier protest "powerful and inspirational," according to the Salem News. "They came to speak out against a broken system and to speak up for a new way of doing things in our community and communities across America," Bettencourt said.