DETROIT – Law enforcement in Metro Detroit stepped up security Friday night as a few hundred people packed Campus Martius for a Black Lives Matter march.
Organizers of the event said they want to make sure it was a peaceful demonstration and admit some people were hesitant to come out after what happened in Dallas. At the same time, Michigan state troopers have received threats.
"Black Lives Matter means just as much as my life matters to me, yours should to me," said Benjamin Hines, who organized the demonstration. "And being black men, what I go through daily is a lot harder."
The signs they carried told of their frustration with blacks dying at the hands of police officers. Hines said the demonstration was necessary.
"When any other race encounters police, they go to any other result, (like) a Taser," Hines said. "But with a black man, we've got to shoot to kill."
The police officers ambushed in Dallas at a Black Lives Matter event left supporters worried.
"I got hundreds of texts, hundreds of phone calls (saying), 'Is it going to be safe? Can I bring my kids? Will it be like Dallas?" Hines said.
Detroit police were on guard on horseback, in the air and perched in high-rises. Those who wear the badge in Michigan are extra vigilant.
"We have received some threats over social media that we're looking into as well," said Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw.
There have been three direct threats against state troopers this weekd. Shaw believes everyone -- officers and citizens -- must take a second to digest the facts.
"It would be very ridiculous for us to say anyone involved in the Black Lives Matter movement is responsible for the deaths of those Dallas officers," Shaw said. "It's not true. But we also have to remember when these officer-involved shootings happen (that) to jump to conclusions over a 20-second Facebook clip doesn't add to the solution."