Paintsville residents hold peaceful protest

Dozens of people took part in a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Paintsville Monday evening. The event, organized by Paintsville native and Yale University student Andre Faria, was held in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an African-American who was killed May 25 in Minneapolis, Minn. The incident, in which a Minneapolis police officer has been charged with third-degree murder, prompted numerous protests around the country, some of which turned violent. Faria said he hoped Monday’s protest in Paintsville was “an opportunity for our community to come together in solidarity with the rest of the country.” He also said Paintsville, “no matter how small it may be, does not stand for racism or police violence, and I hope that today we can make that clear.”