While rioting and looting happened in cities across America mourning the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, a Schuylkill County protest remained peaceful.

Roughly 40 people gathered along Laurel Boulevard in front of the courthouse in Pottsville. They came from various parts of the county.

Event organizer Heather Boher wanted to make a statement in light of the horrible incidents in Minneapolis. She wanted this to be peaceful without much fanfare, but with support as well, naming it “Freedom To Breathe.”

“It started with a couple of friends and my sister,” Boher, a Minersville resident said. “What we are seeing is people don’t stand up. Bad things happen and people don’t say anything about it.”

Boher spread the news about the Sunday protest on Facebook. Pottsville police responded with at least four police vehicles parked along the wide street.

Boher laughed when asked how she managed to get the ball rolling: “It was totally on whim. I said I said to my sister and a couple of her friends, let’s get together and do a little rally.”

Chris Norton, a Pine Grove resident, stood alone near a tree as other protesters were milling around, unsure of how to proceed. “I’ve been around the block a few times, I’m 67 years old and have seen a lot,” said Norton, who remembers other such protests during her lifetime. “I’m just tired of the (lack of) unity and the hatred that’s going on (in the country). It’s in our nature, it’s in our country and I don’t know if it is ever going to change.”

Nearly every bystander was wearing masks, with Schuylkill County moving to the yellow phase Friday.

“We need to change attitudes and I’m glad to see some young people here,” Norton said. “To me this was very upsetting when I saw the person (Floyd) going through this. Somehow we’ve got to find a way to deal with issues like this … not let it take hold.”

Lovelle Katz and her sister Lenore, both New Jersey residents now living in Schuylkill Haven, were upset with the Floyd death that has fueled anger and outrage.

“All those years I have never seen the violence on TV like I did,” said Lovelle Katz, 73. The sisters were highly vocal during their interview.

Lenore, who is 58 and originally from Newark mentioned the 1967 riots in Newark. “It’s these idiotic cops who they feel can kill any black (person) they want. It’s been going on forever,” she said.

Some of the Freedom To Breathe protesters held various homemade signs. “My America! Land of the Free? Home of the Slave! But watch what you say,” read one on a yellow placard.

An orange sign read: “In a world full of love equality and peace … there is hate, racism and war. Why?”

Some attendees said the violence and looting in the other cities wasn’t an answer. When they both were informed those rioters came from other states, but still felt it was part of the growing hatred in the country.

Meanwhile Angel Dugan and Paige Dugan, both sisters in their 20s from Aristes, located between Ashland and Mount Carmel, said it was great to be able to come together without any sort of violence.

“I think most of the rioters were not about violence, but more about peace,” said Angel Dugan, “We have so much negativity and it has to come to an end.”

“This is great to be able to express ourselves,” Paige Dugan said proudly. “Even though the crowd is small, we feel that we need to get the word out there … and it is all about unity. That’s the message we want to send - unity!”

And they were thrilled to see something like this come about locally.

“We both were surprised to find it on (Facebook),” Angel Dugan said. “There are a lot of issues in this world and we want to be allies. And not to be judgmental about the (looters). We sure in heck don’t want to let violence go over the top.”