SAUGUS — Saugus Board of Selectmen chair Anthony Cogliano has withdrawn his involvement in a combined protest against police brutality scheduled to take place this Thursday.
Cogliano said he and longtime friend Danielle Jones originally planned to host a ‘unity rally’ in collaboration with Saugus resident Seven Greer, who will be holding a protest on the same day in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The two parties had planned to march together from Blessed Sacrament Church to Stackpole Field. However, Cogliano said he and Jones have called off their involvement because the two do not agree with what they referred to as “anti-police” sentiments shared online by those affiliated with the Black Lives Matter protest.
“I couldn’t agree with that division as I believed the most important part of this protest was to unite,” Jones said. “It’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to work together, but I could not have my name attached to something that would cause more division in this town.”
Cogliano added: “At first everyone was on the same page, and then one of the groups put out some material that I wasn’t comfortable supporting and would never support. Another group I was working with also wanted nothing to do with that, so when we couldn’t come to an agreement, I said ‘I’m just going to cancel.'”
In an interview with Saugus Wicked Local, Greer emphasized that Thursday’s event will be a peaceful demonstration.
“We want to honor the lives lost to police brutality and shed some light on the systemic racism that exists,” he said. “It will be very, very peaceful.”
A Facebook page for the protest also states that the gathering will be as “unobtrusive as possible.”
The Black Lives Matter protest is still scheduled to take place Thursday, June 11 from 2 to 7 p.m. in Saugus Center. Those in attendance are asked to wear a mask and come dressed in black.
