The Black Lives Matter Protesters In Portland Will Have Their Charges Dropped

The infamous confrontation that blocked Commercial Street in Portland for hours has now led to dropped charges and hopes for a cooperative meeting of the minds instead.

For a few hours in July of 2016, Portland, Maine felt a lot bigger than it actually is. News stations broke in over regular programming, newspapers spent days covering the actions and reactions, and even here in the world of radio, we were captivated. It was all based on a Friday evening protest from the Black Lives Matter movement that led to 17 arrests and a load of controversy that followed. It's been more than 6 months since we've heard anything about the repercussions of that night for the protesters and as it turns out, there won't be any.

According to the Bangor Daily News, the Portland Police Department and leaders of the Black Lives Movement here in Maine have reached an agreement to drop all charges against the 17 people that were arrested that evening in Portland. In return, there will be sit down meetings with leaders from both sides in hopes of working out an understanding of each other, and hope that any other disruptions can be avoided in the future.

Leaders from both sides had no official comment on the settlement. Some people are likely to find the agreement unsatisfying, after watching demonstrators repeatedly ignore police commands last July, with additional heated confrontations erupting amongst protesters and motorists trying to get through the blocked artery in Portland. Others may look at the settlement as a step in the right direction for police to understand what the BLM movement is asking for in terms of justice.

Those sit down meetings have not been scheduled at this time.