Veterans rally for BLM in Pittsburgh to showcase “diversity of worldviews in the military”

A group of 25 citizens and veterans rallied in downtown Pittsburgh sunday to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement. 

“We get aligned with more conservative ideals, and that’s not entirely true,” said veteran Aryanna Hunter, who organized the event, who said that the rally was partially meant to showcase a diversity of worldviews in the military. 

According to Trib Live, the rally, dubbed the Vets for Black Lives rally, began at 10 a.m. outside of the Moorhead Federal Building on Liberty Avenue, where they held signs and American flags, encouraging cars to honk in support as they drove past. 

“We fought for this country, we should have some kind of say,” Mickles, an Army veteran, said. “We served for everybody.”

“When I was in the Navy, I met people of all different races… but when we put on that uniform, that only thing that mattered was U.S. Navy,” said Navy veteran Julian Taylor who served in the Persian Gulf, where he was viewed as an American rather than a black man. 

“One of the things we learn when we’re in the military, is that when we work together, we can do anything,” Hunter added.