The Bay Village Police Department posted the following story on their Facebook Page:
I am writing in response to a post that was found online (NOT generally a smart thing to do I realize), concerning a male that was walking in Bay Village today peacefully protesting and exercising his God given right of Freedom of Speech as an American. This male was wearing a sign expressing his feelings about the state of the world.
Police received a call about a suspicious male in the area. We went to check and saw this male walking on Wolf Road, westbound toward Dover Center Road. Realizing the male was simply protesting, we passed by him and did not stop. In fact, I waved and he waved back. I had no reason to stop him as he was not breaking the law or acting suspicious.
This male was later peacefully walking in the area of the police department. He was approached by Chief Spaetzel who talked to him, thanked him for coming out and offered him a water. As seen in the photo.
None of this was done to curry any favor, it is what we do every day. I only offer this narrative to be transparent, as an individual online called out the BVPD for not approaching the male earlier and made accusations of targeted patrolling around him as an intimidation method.
It is frustrating that there are members of the community that are trying to divide us instead of bringing us together.
Please do not make assumptions and generalizations about individuals if you haven’t taken the time to see both sides of the story.
If you don’t know, do not assume, ask. Join the Community Police Academy and learn about your police force as individuals.
Please let me know if we can help in any other way.
I don’t usually ask, but please share this with friends, neighbors and anyone else who might have questions about law enforcement.
Thank you, god bless and stay safe. Sgt. Robert Gillespie