BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Less than a week after a peaceful protest ended with tear gas on the Bentonville Square, a second one ended much differently.
After Monday's protest left protesters tear-gassed, organizers say they went to work meeting with public officials and law enforcement to get on the same page and make their voices heard the second time around.
Aaron Clarke worked closely with Jessica Angelica to contact local law enforcement and public officials, get organized and ensure the message that black lives matter and the fight against racial injustice remain the focal point all evening.
“She really buckled down and got a lot of things done and talked to a lot of people to make sure that this thing went as well as possible,” Clarke said.
Both protesters and police hoped to prove an entirely peaceful protest can happen in Bentonville.
“I do think it gave the cops and even the protesters a second chance, it showed that we can work together and solve this peacefully instead of how last week turned out,” said Hunter Miles.
As it got darker, Miles' says the fear of a repeat was present.
“There was quite a few of us that kept looking at that courthouse behind us, terrified that those riot cops were going to come out at any second even though we didn’t see any around us,” Miles said.
At the protest on Sunday, instead of lines of police in riot gear, all eyes were on the Bentonville Police Chief standing in normal uniform, united on the steps of the courthouse.
“The one that I saw really step up and be held accountable was the police chief, you know he came out there and he is the one that I really saw that you know got up there,” Clarke said.
Seeing the police chief, hearing the stories and kneeling together in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds was enough to move the crowd to tears.
“You could feel the energy in the air, it moved even me to tears, my wife was bawling her eyes out next to me,” Miles said.
Clarke says Sunday was a step in the right direction and even though there's a long way to go to bridge the gap, he felt the message was heard.
“We wanted to show that the perfect example of a protest or a rally where we can be angry but we can be non-violent and we can get our message across,” Clarke said.