Plans change regarding planned Friday march in Fargo

The planned march scheduled for Friday afternoon from Island Park to Fargo City Hall will no longer be a march, but rather a celebration. A group of concerned citizens met with Fargo City officials to discuss the situation and proceed with a plan for this week’s events. The event will begin at 1 p.m.

“They want to do something Friday afternoon to counteract what happened last week,” Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said. “So we are going to do a celebration of how well the community works together and with each other.”

Mahoney says no marching will be happening – anywhere. In addition, due to social distancing rules, there will be no sit-in at City Hall.

“After talking we came to the conclusion that Friday needs to be a celebration for the milestones that we have achieved here in the FM area as a community as well as the arrest of the three remaining officers,” organizers wrote in a Facebook post.

"We wanted our voices heard, and they heard us," organizer Anyiwei Maciek tells WZFG News. "Not only hearing us, but wanting to help be apart of the change."

Mahoney says the North Dakota National Guard will be in Fargo on Friday, located around city hall and any structures.

“We are not going to be unprotected in the City of Fargo,” he says.

Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting tells WZFG News that the Minnesota National Guard will be in Clay County Friday.

“They are a support for the northwest region only if needed,” Empting says. “Nothing specific.”