The chaos that ensued last night was not promulgated by our community. These weren’t our usual neighborhood organizers who descended onto our streets.

Last night our city was pillaged and preyed upon by out-of-Town agitators and impressionable opportunists.

Don’t be fooled by their calls for justice. Don’t let them purposefully tarnish the peaceful call and movement for reform.

They’ve accomplished nothing and hurt so many families with their senseless acts. Families whose businesses had been shuttered for months and had just reopened. They hurt the families these families feed with employment and commerce.

Last night wasn’t just an attack on brick and mortar establishments, it was an attack on the spirit and good name of our City. It was an attack on our neighbors. It was an attack on the progress so many of us are working to achieve.

Let us come together as a united community and denounce this violence and continue to fight and advocate for peace and reconciliation.

Sabina Matos, President
Providence City Council
Councilwoman – Ward 15