'Black Lives Matter' Protest Planned For West Islip Monday

WEST ISLIP, NY — A peaceful protest for the Black Lives Matter movement is scheduled to take place in West Islip Monday evening. According to the Facebook event, the protest is set to take place between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Higbie Lane. The organizers have asked participants to wear masks and bring non-perishable or dry food items and living essentials to donate to the Helping Hands of West Islip.

Organizers also emphasized on the page that it will be a peaceful demonstration and wrote that "anyone who has any intention of escalating it to violence is not welcome." The event is part of a larger number of protests and riots taking place across the country over the death of George Floyd, killed in police custody in Minneapolis. Protests were happening around the state, and broke into riots in some places, including in New York City.

"I share the outrage and I stand with the protesters," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during his daily press briefing on Monday. "You look at that video of the killing of an unarmed man, Mr. Floyd. It is horrendous. It's frightening. It perverts everything you believe about this country. And there's no excuse for it. No right-minded American would make an excuse for it."

Cuomo warned protesters that any violence that breaks out could have unintended consequences, and that the protests themselves could result in the further spread of the coronavirus, which could set back the progress the state has made fighting the virus.