Veterans hold Black Lives Matter rally in Pittsburgh

Aug. 2--A group of about 25 people, many of them veterans, gathered in Downtown Pittsburgh Sunday to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Organizer Aryanna Hunter, of Murrysville, said the rally was in part meant to spotlight the diversity of worldviews in the military.

"We get aligned with more conservative ideals, and that's not entirely true," she said.

The Vets for Black Lives rally started at 10 a.m. outside the Moorhead Federal Building on Liberty Avenue. Several participants held signs and one waved a large American flag.

Several cars honked their horns in support as they drove past.

Blair Mickles, of McKeesport, stood with her dog Montana, holding a sign that said "This is the America I fought for."

"We fought for this country, we should have some kind of say," Mickles, an Army veteran, said. "We served for everybody."

Navy veteran Julian Taylor served in the Persian Gulf. He said he wants to be seen as an American, not discriminated against as a Black man.

"When I was in the Navy, I met people of all different races... but when we put on that uniform, that only thing that mattered was U.S. Navy," the Beaver County resident said.

He said the protests following the May 25 killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers have led to meaningful reforms, but that the nation has a long way to go before Black Americans are seen and treated as equals.

Hunter organized a Black Lives Matter walk in Murrysville in June, which drew about 100 participants. She said she wants to keep the momentum going.

"One of the things we learn when we're in the military, is that when we work together, we can do anything," she said.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, jtierney@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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