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350 turn out for peaceful protest in Lambertville

The turnout was larger than many people in town anticipated.

LAMBERTVILLE, Mich. — Protest organizers in Lambertville weren't sure how many people to expect Wednesday night for a planned peaceful protest.  But more than 300 people showed up to come together against racial injustice. 

"It's been much better than anyone thought we could get from this community and it's really nice to see just how many people support us," Lambertville resident Jared Dawson said.

This sentiment from Dawson was shared by everyone WTOL spoke to at Wednesday's protest.

"On my way here I said to my husband, 'there will probably be about 30 to 50 people here.' That's what I thought," Lambertville protester Lisa Duran said.

The sheriff's department estimates there were about 350 people in attendance. 

Organizers met with Chief Deputy Jeff Pauli ahead of time to figure out traffic and safety logistics.

"We're here to protect their constitutional rights. It's a conversation that needs to be had anyway, so I support this movement. I support all these people that are out here expressing their views," Chief Deputy Pauli said.

For Dawson, he said had some concerns coming to the protest because of what he had seen on social media

"There's a Facebook group called 'Bedford Unleashed,' and while there are some that have been supportive of us here, there's also many negative comments and there were people trying to lie about how we canceled this event," Dawson said.

Duran wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it to the protest, but she wanted to express how she felt, and what she's seen as an educator in the Bedford school district, a place where she'd like to see more diversity.

"People of color, brown or black get hired by Bedford Public Schools and then in turn are eventually driven out by students primarily, or just by ignorant people who didn't want them here," Duran said.

When Duran shared her goal of having a more diverse staff available for students, she was met with cheers from the crowd. 

The takeaway appeared to be that protesters were proud of their community for turning out, but believe they still have a long way to go.

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