A Black Lives Matter protest planned by a group of Fountain Hills young people for Wednesday, June 10, at Fountain Park has been postponed, according to organizers.

One of the group, Gina Woods, told The Times they became concerned for the safety of participants after seeing Facebook posts regarding their plans.

“There were a lot of hateful comments and it was very alarming,” Woods said. “We felt it best to postpone the event.”

Woods said they were pleased to have numerous comments in support of the protest.

“On the whole, there is an effort by those fighting systematic racism across the country,” Woods said. “We feel Fountain Hills is a good place to make a statement.”

Another in the group of organizers, Rory Wilson, contacted Mayor Ginny Dickey about the planned protest on Saturday, June 6.

Wilson, a Fountain Hills High School graduate and sophomore at Grand Canyon University, was asking whether town officials would be receptive to the group.

“My friend and other black people that are interested in this protest have concerns whether or not they will be greeted with aggressive behavior from our local authorities and other community members,” Wilson wrote Dickey in an email. “As this is a peaceful protest, we do not condone any form of violence.”

“As elected officials under oath to defend the Constitution, we have the responsibility to insure the ‘right of the people peaceably to assemble.’ This doesn’t include the right to select who that applies to,” Dickey said.