Morristown police: Weekend march cancelled by organizers

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A march tentatively scheduled for Saturday has been cancelled by its organizer, Morristown police said Thursday in a message to residents.

Police said they became aware earlier this week of anonymous plans circulating on Instagram for a march from the Morris County Courthouse to town hall. Later, police made contact with the organizer–whose identity was not disclosed–and said that person had been unaware of how to manage a large gathering.

The organizer took suggestions from police to plan for a future date, according to the statement.

“We applaud the organizer for recognizing that additional planning was required and remain committed to working with them to ensure a peaceful and safe event can be held in the near future,” police said.

Here’s the message to residents.

From Morristown police:

Earlier this week, the Bureau of Police became aware that a march was planned to take place on Saturday, June 6th. An Instagram post called for people to march from the Morris County Courthouse to Morristown Town Hall. This Instagram account had no contact information, no event organizer was listed, and no group claimed responsibility for this event.

Ensuring the rights of people to peacefully demonstrate is of the highest importance to this agency and is a role we take extremely seriously. As we have done with every event that takes place in Morristown, we began the process of planning to ensure that we could assist the organizers in exercising their constitutional rights in a manner that would keep their participants and the greater Morristown community safe.

Yesterday, we made contact with the individual who initially created the Instagram post. Upon speaking with the organizer, we learned that this Instagram post was originally designed to encourage “a few friends” to walk along the sidewalk on South Street. The organizer indicated that they had become concerned when they saw online comments and support and were unsure of the number of people who would be attending the event.

The organizer admitted that they were not aware of the steps required to manage a large gathering or demonstration and did not recognize any of the collateral issues that came with such a responsibility. The Bureau of Police provided suggestions to assist in the peaceful exercising of constitutional rights and learned this morning that this event was being cancelled so that those suggestions could be considered for a future date.

We stand committed to working with anyone who wishes to peacefully express their views, just as we did last week during a large event in Morristown and Morris Township, but must take prudent steps to ensure the safety of all involved and our community at large. We applaud the organizer for recognizing that additional planning was required and remain committed to working with them to ensure a peaceful and safe event can be held in the near future.

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