'MAGA' demonstrator rips Nazi flag; BLM demonstrators march in silence in downtown St. Pete
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at South Straub Park for a "rally for peace" and a Black Lives Matter rally late Saturday.
Demonstrators marched from the park and down the St. Pete Pier in silence.
"We have signed open letters to them, making it crystal clear that white supremacy has no place in St. Petersburg, it has no place in our streets, and we will never be silent in the face of it,” said Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida.
Counter protestors gathered at the park as well. MAGA demonstrators followed the other group to the pier after chanting things like "four more years" and "blue lives matter."
One demonstrator tried burning a Nazi flag, then ripped it into pieces before throwing it to the ground.
"Me making a statement like that, hopefully, will get through to you and to them that we are not white nationalists, we are not white supremacists, their rally today was basically a white supremacist, anti-white supremacist rally, I don’t see any white supremacists here, we’re Americans,” said Gary Snow, a Make America Great Again demonstrator.
There was a heavy police presence in downtown. Aside from some heated exchanges between the two groups, the rallies remained peaceful.
Related
St. Pete mayor: Brandishing a gun, crashing someone's dinner doesn't 'advance your cause'
While providing updates on recent developments in St. Petersburg, city officials condemned the actions of some groups of protesters within the last week, adding that they are searching for three subjects seen in viral videos where weapons were seen.
Related
St. Pete protests become heated following Breonna Taylor grand jury decision, videos show
In the hours after the grand jury decision was announced in the Breonna Taylor case, reactions and protests spread across the country -- including right in St. Petersburg, where two intense confrontations occurred Wednesday night.