Portsmouth residents gathered for a vigil last night to protest the violence of the past week.
Heavy rain almost forced the organizers to call off the event Saturday night, but over 100 people decided to come out anyways.
The gathering had originally been billed as a Black Lives Matter protest following the police shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. But after the murders of police in Dallas, organizers decided to refashion the event as a vigil for all lives.
Mike Hasty was one of the organizers of the event. He says the strong turnout was encouraging.
“People obviously want to make a statement. Look, there’s probably over a hundred people here standing out in this pouring rain. People want to make a statement; they want to deal with the problem.”
The crowd briefly linked arms in a show of solidarity before heading inside for shelter.
