Protests in the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys Sunday were peaceful compared to other cities in Ohio and across America.   Locally, there were no injuries, just a smattering of arrests and a small amount of vandalism.

The law enforcement and government officials are crediting the organizers, who made a strong appeal about the importance of conducting a peaceful demonstration, and not resorting to bad behavior and breaking the law. 
Demonstrators in Youngstown made their voices heard without the violence and chaos that marred protests in so many other cities.  Law enforcement officials say precautions were in place, but they were pleasantly surprised by the overall conduct of the protesters, even with a mix of people from outside the valley.

"We didn't know what to expect. We figured we were going to have a decent sized crowd and we were able to identify people from New York, Indiana, Detroit, and different parts of Ohio," Mahoning County Sheriff, Jerry Greene said.

The Sheriff was also surprised that the 14 people arrested were all from the local area. He noted there was some minor vandalism with broken windows at Choffin Career Center, the United Way and one police cruiser, but no serious incidents. "It was relatively a well behaved crowd and for the most part  they peacefully protested," Greene said.
At one point, a small group marched onto Interstate-680, something the Sheriff says is dangerous.
"You don't want to go out there and put yourself at risk, and put the people driving the cars at risk. It's just one of those things you know is unacceptable,".

Organizers say they last thing they wanted was for Youngstown to make the news over violence and destruction, because that would only take away from their real purpose and message.

Mahoning county commissioner David Ditzer is concerned that people not lose sight of the fact that coronavirus is still very much a public health threat and without precautions like face coverings and social distancing they run the risk of infection they could take home to their families.