Former Fort Erie resident on front line of NYC protests
People burning police cars and destroying businesses in major U.S. cities aren’t the same as those who are peacefully voicing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, says a former Niagara resident who has been on the front lines of daily rallies in New York City since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“I believe there’s a distinct difference between looters and protesters,” said Les Trent, who lived in Fort Erie long ago and has been a reporter for 20 years with “Inside Edition,” a syndicated news show aired on U.S. networks.
Health concerns over putting himself on the edge of mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic are on his mind, but also his physical safety from the chaos and violence taking place.
“I’ve covered enough of these to know there’s a certain anatomy to a protest when it turns into a riot,” said Trent.
“You feel the energy changing. Luckily, I have not been in the middle of one yet,” he added.
He said reporters from major networks are “out there 24/7,” but he does not do live hits at night and all his coverage is in the bank by 3 p.m. most days.
“We’re not necessarily out there at 2 o’clock in the morning, but we do shoot video for the next day.”
He supports Black Lives Matter’s position when people get behind the movement properly.
“The looting certainly damages the cause, there’s no doubt about that,” said Trent, elaborating that a lot of people involved are “purposely trying to hurt the movement or using the movement to take advantage of looting.”
He said there are a substantial number of young white protesters on the streets of New York City. He described the majority of them as “sincere” and “not out there to loot.”
A Black man, Trent said it would take a “Herculean effort” to abolish systemic racism involving police agencies, citizens and governments.
An anti-chokehold law up for consideration in the U.S. that would apply to police could be a remedy.
“That’s part of the equation as well. There’s a whole myriad of things that have to be done.”
Anti-racism movements are nothing new in the U.S. Trent believes what is taking place today will be “longer-lasting and more widespread” than other protests over the years.
Trent lived in Fort Erie for about two years in the late 1970s. He is a graduate of Fort Erie Secondary School, which closed in 2016. The auditorium at the school was named after him.
He left for college and returned to Fort Erie to work at the Times-review newspaper and a number of radio stations the other side of the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, N.Y.
Trent later became a producer at Channel 4 in Buffalo before moving to Channel 2 as a weekend anchor. He then moved to San Francisco for work and moved his way up the ranks at CBS Distribution, the company that owns “Inside Edition.”
Has he dealt with racism in his career? Not the kind that’s “overt,” he said. But he sympathized with other Black men and women looking to join the news teams he was on because they likely wouldn’t be hired due to an unwritten policy that seemed to only allow for one or two Black reporters at each station.
“There was a certain number of people of colour on staff,” said Trent.
“Unfortunately, for anyone else trying to get a job — it’s difficult,” he said.
Trent currently lives in New Jersey.