TWIN FALLS — The Twin Falls Police chief Craig Kingsbury, along with Captain Anthony Barnhart, will be in attendance for the peaceful vigil at the city park. Organized by the Culture For Change Foundation, the vigil will start at seven o clock and mourn the loss of George Floyd and other African Americans who have lost their lives to police and fellow citizens.
The department fully expects the vigil to remain peaceful with Chief Kingsbury stating, "Twin Falls is a great community; it's a loving community. We're expecting this to be a vigil and a time for members of the community to come out and have conversations."
Twin Falls police have been doing their best over this past year to reach out to the African American community and other marginalized groups to see how they can overcome this issue. The conversations about this problem are especially needed now, and the police department plans on doing just that. They are advocating for members of the public to come and speak with them, so they know the changes needed here in Twin Falls.
Kingsbury stated, “I’m open, I'm ready to listen, I'm ready to talk and to do what we can to make a change here in Twin Falls, continue to make things better, and hopefully make a change."
There is not even the slightest indication that this peaceful vigil will turn violent. Yet if things were to take a turn for the worst, the police would respond appropriately.
Chief Kingsbury is extremely confident in the community that these sorts of events will not transpire. He also feels the vigil will be an excellent lesson for those in positions of power and law enforcement. "This is just a very unfortunate, tragic situation that really brings the point home, and I think it's a wake-up call to those of us in authority and those of us in law enforcement. We need to listen, and nationwide we need to be prepared to make some changes," stated Kingsbury.
Those attending the vigil are encouraged to bring hand sanitizer and facemasks and practice social distancing.
