Alyse Vick This weekend Jay, his father, Nora, and I went to the protest in Rome. We wore our masks and kept our distance from others when we were not walking. The majority of people were wearing a mask unless they were speaking. Rome PD was there, they were applauded and 4 officers, including the Captain, came and stood with one of the speakers. There was a shout out to the Oneida County Sheriff for reaching out to the NAACP, he was not present but he was thanked and applauded. They also thanked the Major of Utica and a shout out to Anthony Brindisi for contacting the NAACP. My point in this is because the comments I read on the post from the OD and Rome Sentinel are grossly inaccurate and ignorant. This was held at 7pm on a Saturday. People did not take time off of work, we are not "jobless trash", my husband and I work 2 jobs, the people we knew who were there work. Mainly, the thing that disturbed me the most is the number of people who thought this protest was about bashing the Oneida County Sheriff's Department and Rome Police Department. It had NOTHING to do with that. The NAACP made sure to thank the Oneida County Sheriff and tell everyone there that he reached out to them, the crowd applauded him (gasp!). One speaker, a Puerto Rican woman whose husband served in the Military (again for the ignorant people, YOU DO NOT NEED A GREEN CARD IF YOU WERE BORN IN PUERTO RICO, second gasp!) and now their family owns a church in Rome, she works with the Rome Police department on occasion, the Captain came up and stood with her towards the end of her time speaking, he also had 3 fellow officers with him, officers of color. People in our area, all over the US, need to OPEN THEIR EYES. These protests are not people going out and bashing cops. There are good cops, but there are bad cops out there who abuse their authority and THAT is a part of what these protests are about, bringing awareness to this and trying to make a change. In order to make change happen, we need all sides in on the conversation. Get in on the facts and conversation. Step out of your comfort zone and be part of the solution, not the problem. EDUCATION IS KEY. #AlyseVick #NoraVick #JaysonVick #ken (at Fort Stanwix National Monument) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBTkTILhxIe/?igshid=kqavtu7cum0b