Protests in the Basin

I was wrong. I thought a protest in Midland and Odessa would surely end in violence. I've seen it at concerts, bars, and several social events growing up here. I honestly didn't think the Permian Basin could hold a peaceful protest. Odessa went off without a hitch so kudos to you Odessa. Of the two cities, if we're all being honest, I think most people would have pegged Odessa as being the one that would have had an issue. The people of Odessa handled themselves in a very classy manner and did things right. Thank you for that Odessa.

Midland, there were a few knuckleheads trying to block off the street and a couple who threw bottles at MPD vehicles, but for the most part, Midland pulled it off very well. I think we also need to give a big shout out to both police departments. They did great. MPD could have escalated the situation when they started throwing stuff, but they didn't. They handled the situation EXACTLY how they should have.

I'm so proud of our community after yesterday. We don't have to agree, but at least we can say as a community, we can be civil, and voice that disagreement like civil human beings. I think there certainly is a social issue that needs to be addressed when it comes to men of the law killing innocent people and not being held accountable like everyone else. I also think we have a lot of great officers who see things everyday that we have the luxury of not seeing because of the great job they do. The bad sticks in our minds more than the good. Unfortunately that can be said about all of us. In times like these, we can only see the positive if we actively seek it out. Once you do that, I think we can all see that we are just people trying to make a living and not live in fear of one another. Thank you Permian Basin, for restoring my faith in our community. Together we are #PermianBasinStrong.