Threats to protesters in Emmett Till rally prompt cancelation of Christmas parade in Kentucky

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December 3, 2022

By Mirna Alsharif and Ava Kelley, NBC News

Chief Michael Delaney and Sheriff Brett Hightower are determining the nature of this threat. (Bowling Green Police Department)

A Christmas parade planned for Saturday in Kentucky has been canceled after authorities received threats directed at protesters of an Emmett Till rally on the same day.

The annual Jaycees Christmas Parade in Bowling Green, Kentucky was canceled out of an “abundance of caution,” according to a statement. The Mistletoe Market, also in Bowling Green, was canceled on Saturday as well.

At least three groups planned to protest simultaneously at the Justice Center in the city Saturday afternoon, according to a joint statement from the Bowling Green Police Department and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. The protest was to demand justice for Emmett Till, according to NBC affiliate WNKY, who was 14 when he was brutally beaten and shot in the head in 1955 after a white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, said he whistled at her and touched her in a Mississippi store.

[…]

Authorities learned of the threats against the protesters late Friday evening, according to the statement posted to Facebook overnight.

“Late this evening, we learned of a threat to these protesters,” said Warren County Sheriff Brett Hightower. “The specific threat is threatening to shoot anyone whose protesting and anyone helping the protesters.”

Authorities haven’t determined the validity of the threat, but felt it was important to issue an alert, Hightower said.

Keep reading to learn more.

Threats to Black events and organizations are nothing new.

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