Tomorrow, a concerted pro-police rally will convene at Public Square. The “Sea of Blue” event, organized by a Brooklyn police dispatcher, will act as something of a counterpoint to the weeks of marches against police brutality around Cleveland.

Organizer Mary Jo Graves tells Fox 8: “They don’t go out every day saying, ‘I’m going to take a life today.’ They go out saying, ‘I want to come home.’ They want to come home to their families.” 

The event will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, though people will begin gathering as early as 11 a.m. As of Friday morning, more than 4,000 people have signed on to the Facebook event page. 

The events have sprung up nationwide in the wake of “Black Lives Matter” marches from Cleveland to Ferguson. Gothamist recently covered one of these outings in New York City, revealing tensions amid counter-protests and plenty of that “get a job” rhetoric aimed at those who’ve been protesting in Cleveland since the Nov. 22 shooting of Tamir Rice. 

This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2014.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

8 replies on “‘Sea of Blue’ Rally Planned for Saturday in Support of Police”

  2. I guess it’s no different Camilo of these “protesters” supporting some criminals and their behavior?

  4. Actually Camilo, the people are going for peace! Unlike the “innocent” people that were unfortunately shot due to the lack of proper upbring, listening to police commands, a being detriment to society (robbing stores/waving a gun in public). Hopefully, since the parents didn’t teach the kids correctly, maybe this will have some impact!
    *eyeroll* at your ignorant comments!

  6. A job description doesn’t characterize someone, but represents their experience and integrity. Subjecting the entire CPD instead of a single employee of the Law Enforcement is as uneducated as blaming an entire restaurant for receiving the wrong meal when the real problem was miscommunication. When a badge goes off duty and becomes confronted by a child, family member, or friend who questions if they helped killed someone, that is when we as citizens of Cleveland have to take action. Injustice is NOT a victimless crime, agreed. By rioting, protesting, and other forms of “a-two-race-only world (good this, bad that)” rallying, it threatens the future of our city and tarnishes the reputation of any Law Enforcement Officer on or off duty. A loved one live has been taken by a police officer and the tragedy will affect their families forever, (R.I.P) but to direct anger to the entire CPD is too much. Citizens, do you receive blame at your place of employment for something the janitor did? (In order words, one employee mistake doesn’t not hold the entire team accountable. Sport fans, do you blame Kyrie Irving when the coach tells Lebron to “run the floor”? Blacks and Whites are NOT the only races that resides in Cleveland. It would seem close to self-prejudice to not acknowledge how many public negative actions are opposing other races. Violence does not equal Justice. Justice = Justice. “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” #ThisIsCleveland, not North Korea. #seaofblue

  7. I think if a bunch of employees did what was found in the DOJ findings and zero were indicted on any charges I miiiiiiiight be less than enthusiastic about my place of employment. I might want to focus on changing the culture of my workplace to criticize their actions without facing retaliation.

  8. Ah camilo, that’s priceless. Yep just how I’m sure all those gun totin’ thugs are trollin dem stweets; they are innocent kidnap victims in their underwear! Ahahahahahahaha

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