80-Year-Old Woman Receives Outpouring Of Support After Protesting In Honor Of George Floyd’s Death

Leta Austin Foster, an 80-year-old businesswoman and longtime resident of Palm Beach, has received an abundance of support after protesting the killing of George Floyd at Town Hall on Tuesday (June 2). That day, police sent out an email alert to residents urging them to stay clear of the Town Hall around 3 P.M., after police became aware that protestors will be coming to town to protest George Floyd’s death. George Floyd was an unarmed black man that was killed by Minneapolis police officers using excessive force during his arrest.

Instead of following the alert, Foster decided to go to the Town Hall with a Black Lives Matter sign in her hand, in support of justice for Floyd. Foster felt it was her duty to use her First Amendment rights and to help the black community spread the message of black lives matter.

“I’m so brokenhearted about our country right now,” Foster said Friday. “The COVID-19 thing was so mishandled. I think Trump is trying to keep people stirred up so they will forget about that.”

Foster is a married mother of 6 children and 10 grandchildren. For the past 48 years, she has resided in Palm Beach as an interior designer. Since the day of the protest, Foster said that she has received numerous phone calls in support of her recent demonstration. More than 1,800 people responded positively to a picture of Foster with her “BLM” sign, which she uploaded on Instagram. One of her 10 grandchildren has started a petition to help support the “BLM” cause, as well.

“You can’t believe how many people have written in to say, ‘Had I have known, I would have been with you,'” she said. “But the town put out a warning to be safe. I think that’s a bad way to do things.”

On the day of the protest, many people were boarding up serval shops out of fear of possible vandalism by looters. According to Palm Beach Post, police created a barrier preventing protestors from being able to cross one of the bridges that led into town, at least once last week.

“I don’t think that sends a good message,” Foster said. “I think it’s best to say that we are listening.”

Foster is aware of police using several tactics to control protestors, including tear gas, and she condemned Trump’s threat to deploy the military on American citizens.

“Trump doesn’t care about the Constitution,” she said. “Anybody that would call the American army out on American citizens is a tyrant.”