BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – Organizers have announced that the Bowling Green Christmas parade and SoKY Marketplace’s Mistletoe Market will be canceled due to potential threats made toward civil rights groups that had planned a protest later today.
RELATED: Civil rights groups to protest at last known location of Emmett Till’s accuser in Bowling Green
Various civil rights groups had planned a ‘Justice for Emmett Till’ protest on Saturday at noon at the Justice Center as well as at Carolyn Bryant Donham’s apartment on Shive Lane. Protest organizers told us they planned to be armed in case they would need to defend themselves.
Around 3 a.m., Bowling Green Police and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office posted a video that explained who they determined potential threats made towards the groups protesting.
“The specific threat is threatening to shoot anyone who is protesting and anyone who is helping the protesters,” said Sheriff Brett Hightower. “We have not been able to determine the validity of this threat.”
Out of an abundance of precaution, organizers of the Jaycee Christmas Parade decided to cancel the Christmas parade downtown that was set to begin around 9:30 a.m.
“The safety of our participants and spectators is ALWAYS are main focus. We have been in constant communication with law enforcement and have felt, all week, that we could provide a safe, fun event. With this latest information, we knew that postponing was our best option. We will be working, today, to come up with another date for the parade,” the organizer posted on Facebook.
The FBI and Homeland Security are helping local and state authorities investigate.
One of the protest organizers sent WBKO News at statement regarding the threat saying, “Shooters rarely, if ever notify their shooting victims! *Note: Dozens had to get threatened, injured and died during the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. #BloodySunday Carry On!!”
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