Protesters kneel in silence as part of an 8 minute, 46 second moment of silence in observance of the death of George Floyd. Around 100 protesters attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday in Zelienople.

My name is Alyson Eagle and I had been raised in the borough of small, little Harmony. I am an alumni of Seneca Valley School District where I graduated with honors and was a student-athlete throughout my time there.

My family and I frequently visit and participate in community-based functions and events in Zelienople such as Horse Trading Days and the annual Fourth of July parade and fireworks.

I have fond memories of friends and families attending these events and building a strong sense of community within our small little town. You can go just about anywhere here and know someone — “Hi! How’s your family?” is a frequently used statement as you’re grabbing groceries or getting breakfast at Kountry Kitchen.

I heard about a Vigil of Hope and Change event taking place Wednesday evening, which was organized as an opportunity for healing and peaceful protest in light of the world’s current events. We were encouraged to bring signage and a personal candle which we would be lighting as we participated in an 8 minute, 46 second moment of silence to not only remember George Floyd but the other countless lives lost due to police brutality and racial injustice.

When I received the email there was no hesitation that my family and I were going to attend this event organized to make our hometown community grow and change for the better.

There were so many beautiful highlights from the event: Children with their parents holding signs and encouraging big trucks to honk in support of change, our next generation of youth supporting one another by attending in groups for a cause greater than themselves, and (I can’t emphasize this word enough) the strong sense of community that was being demonstrated as we stood peacefully at the corners of Grandview Avenue and Main Street waving to the traffic driving by.

There were certainly conversations occurring of opposing viewpoints, but they remained peaceful, respectful and ended with the sense of “agree to disagree.” Both have the freedom of speech and wanted to express their opinions.

To me, these were all positive demonstrations of our rights as American citizens and our freedom of speech and expression which left me feeling a sense of hope for change in this predominantly white community.

A man driving through the event immediately pulled over and asked me questions about how the event was organized with tears in his eyes. He took out his camera and started video taping the peaceful protesters lining the streets with a smile on his face. A few minutes later he returned to talk with me, with those tears still in his eyes, and explained he sent the video to his daughter who originally lived in Zelienople and now resides in San Francisco and it brought her to tears as well. He made a point to come back and tell me how proud she was of the Zelienople community for hosting such a powerful event.

The event was powerful and beautiful in countless ways. We were nearing the end of our two hour window of protesting and it was announced we were about to take our moment of silence. We all pulled out our candles and handed out extras to those who weren’t aware to bring one.

We each took turns lighting one another’s flames on their candle and began our silence in remembrance of lives lost. Those who were able, immediately took a knee on the surrounding grass and sidewalk.

It was powerful. It was strong. It was the definition of a community working together for change.

Approximately 4 minutes into our silence, you felt the energy of the crowd shift. I had bowed my head in prayer when I heard the sound of the young woman next to me burst into tears. I immediately asked if she was OK, thinking to myself how beautiful it was that she was moved to tears with the thought that it had to do with the event — but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

The girl pointed to a man walking through our crowd of peaceful protesters with an assault rifle strapped to his chest and another gun holstered on his hip. I scanned the crowd and watched parents grab their children out of fear and pull them closer to protect them.

I saw my fellow protesters crying with fear-stricken eyes and watching the man intensely as we were terrified about what would happen next. The man carrying two guns through our moment of silence walked directly over to the four Zelienople police officers, who thankfully had the situation under control and kept the protesters safe.

While this occurrence was terrifying and undoubtedly impacted (what I believe) was the most powerful part of our protest — not one individual fled. Not one person was scared enough of this man trying to make a statement with his rights to bear arms to leave our protest for change.

Tears were shed, families were scared — but not one person left during that time of silence and remembrance.

Even though this man tried to scare our community from positive change and peacefully expressing our freedom of speech by his intimidating right to bear arms — he didn’t. We remain together, trying to better ourselves and our small community in hopes to spark even bigger, nationwide change.

Alyson Eagle resides in Erie and is a college counselor at Gannon University.