JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)- As protesters marched through the streets of downtown Johnson City over the past several days, police have been nearby, monitoring the situation on the ground.
Major Debbie Botelho with the Johnson City Police Department said authorities also have eyes on the internet for any potential threats on social media.
Social media posts have been sent to News Channel 11 regarding outside groups coming into the region to “hijack” the previously scheduled protests.
Major Botelho said in part Wednesday, “We do monitor that and we have some agencies that monitor that so yeah, we are on top of that. I took several calls yesterday in regards to one certain post that was on there and we’re well aware of that.”
News Channel 11’s Kaylyn Kluck asked Major Botelho specifically about certain types of clothing that could signal white supremacists in a crowd and if that was something that was on their radar.
“We have intelligence that we have that we know some things that are going on and so we are monitoring that quite closely to make sure that everybody stays safe. That is our main goal. We want everyone to stay safe, we don’t need anybody hurting this, nobody,” Major Botelho said.
Some local Black Lives Matter leaders told us they are canceling their peaceful protests planned for Wednesday evening after threats were made.
Stay with News Channel 11 on-air and on WJHL.com as we continue to follow this developing story.
